This Paper Deserves an A+ + + + + + Consumerism is a major part of our national identity, and saving as much of the hard earned money is always an important goal for any American. The fast food industry advertises deals on the radio, television, newspaper, and nowadays it is a major part of social media. “Two for the price of one,” “buy one get one half off,” “make it a large meal for only 50 cents more!” These are common phrases society have become accustomed to hearing, and while people think they are making the right choice by taking these deals and saving some money, they have never really stop to think about what these deals are doing to their health. The food industry is selling unhealthy food and drinks very cheaply, and people are …show more content…
The easy accessibility of cheap and unhealthy food is one of the major contributing factors to this obesity epidemic. Cheap bargains and deals on unhealthy food are a big reason obesity, diabetes, and heart disease rates have risen in the United States in the past few decades. Obesity is a problem that doesn’t discriminate between the young or old, sick or young, man or woman. According to Toni Clarke of Reuters, "obesity is a national epidemic that affects millions of Americans" (Reuters). This dangerous health issue has become so serious, that doctors here in the United States and around the world have become baffled as to finding a solution. Restaurants and fast food chains are not making matters any better. There is so much competition between different fast food chains that we see a constant competition to reach the lowest prices that will attract the most customers. This would be fine if the food these fast food chains are selling could be considered healthy and had real nutritional value; however, it is evident that most items on these fast food restaurants’ menus are full of calories, processed fat, high sugar levels, and ultimately very bad for our health. Most of these restaurants serve meals that lack any real nutritional …show more content…
If what a customer wants is fast, healthy, and affordable food they should make some life changes. According to Wendell Berry from the article “The Pleasure of Eating”, the best way to eat healthy is by preparing your own food. If each customer prepares their own meals it gives them the control of “quality”, this way one is able to also have the knowledge of what has been added to their food. Many fast food restaurants offer salads, but not only do they sell them at a very high price, restaurants apply plenty different ingredients to give it a better taste that at the end this salads are no longer healthy. For the consumers that do not have time during the day to prepare a daily meal can pre prepared their meals at night for the next day. This allows them to still keep control of the food they are consuming and it should enable them to eat more
“For someone not to know that a big mac is unhealthy is ignorance, and ignorance is not the responsibility of the fast food industry,” (Daniel Speiser). The amount of fast food joints has largely increased which has become a problem for many people throughout the United States. Several people place the blame for the rising obesity among children on the rising fast food industries due to its convenience, price, advertising, and somewhat un-nutritional content. Some people even take it as far as court to place blame on the fast food industries and for those industries to make changes to their restaurants. The high percentage of obese children in the United States is not caused by the fast food industry. The obesity epidemic has other outside influences, the fast food industries have changed dramatically, and people should take responsibility for their own consumptions. It is time for people to stop placing the blame on others and take responsibility for themselves and their actions.
Fast food has infiltrated every nook and cranny of American society. Everywhere you turn you can see a fast food restaurant. An industry that modestly began with very few hot dog and hamburger vendors now has become a multi-international industry selling its products to paying customers. Fast food can be found anywhere imaginable. Fast food is now served at restaurants and drive-through, at stadiums, airports, schools all over the nation. Surprisingly fast food can even be found at hospital cafeterias. In the past, people in the United States used to eat healthier and prepared food with their families. Today, many young people prefer to eat fast food such as high fat hamburgers, French-fries, fried chicken, or pizza in fast
There is no doubt that obesity has taken its seat as one of the top disease that strikes the world today. In America, obesity has now spread through the country leaving 2 out of 3 adults either overweight or obese, and worldwide 1.5 billion are overweight or obese (Overweight). The cause of this disease stems from multiple reasons such as the increase in modern food production, putting out ample amounts of food causing the prices for meat, groceries, and especially junk food to plummet. Subsequently, Americans especially were more inclined to purchase more food and showed an increase in the average American house hold food intake by 1,000 more calories a day (Dreifus).
Obesity in America is directly due to the fast food industry. From the rising mortality’s among people who are obese from fast food. To even the preservatives fast food chains use within their food. Not only have that calorie’s people intake from these restaurants even been miss looked. While people may think they can overcome the urge, fast food chains exclusively use addictive’s in their products to hook people from day one of use. Healthy lifestyles among society have been misled by the very fast food chains, which state their “healthy”. With that said, emotional issues even come to play when involving a human’s appetite to fast food. Even beverages sold at these fast food chains exceed the normal limit of sugar a healthy being should consume. Even America’s view point on serving sizes of meals served at these fast food chains goes way beyond a healthy lifestyle that everyone wants.
The obesity epidemic and our nation’s health as a whole have many factors that include socioeconomic status in particular. Socioeconomic Status and Childhood Obesity will always shape our nations vision and mission with what we do with healthcare. Healthcare in America is in a major reconstruction faze, and is in much need of it, obesity and socioeconomic status are going to be the major contributors to this reconstruction.
Millions of American people buy fast food every day without thinking about where, how and why. The ramifications of fast food is impacting the American people both around the waist line and the community where they live at. “As the old saying goes: you are what you eat.” (Schlosser) The customer have made the choices to eat fast food or not. The industry doesn’t care about the customers; studies have shown that the fast food industry is the reason for the rise of American obesity. “Live fast and die young” (Moore); this could not be more true when looking at the impact of the fast food industry.
One out of every three Americans is obese and the majority of these obese people in the United States have eaten regularly at fast food restaurants. As the obesity rate increases, the number of fast food restaurants goes up as well. Although it is not certain, many believe that obesity in the United States is correlated to eating fast food. Since the United States has the highest obesity rate out of any country, it is important for Americans to monitor the fast food industry that may be causing obesity. With the pressure to get things done in a timely manner, fast food became a big necessity. However, when creating fast food restaurants, the industries were not thinking about the negative effects such as obesity. Other than obesity, other harmful effects exist as well. Fast food restaurants serve unhealthy products such as greasy foods and artificial meat that lead to dietary health issues in many adults and children. A recent study showed that “Young children who are fed processed, nutrient-poor foods are likely to become unhealthy teenagers, and eventually unhealthy adults. Now twenty-three percent of teens in the U.S. are pre-diabetic or diabetic, 22% have high or borderline high LDL cholesterol levels, and 14% have hypertension or prehypertension” (May, Kuklina, Yoon). The food that they provide is made to be eaten quickly, causing problems for the digestive system. Also, the health problems lead to the use for health insurance, which adds to the costs of Medicare. Health care costs will only worsen an already failing economy. Therefore, the government should regulate fast food restaurants in the United States in order to repair the deteriorating health and economy in America.
I choose to do my research paper on Obesity in America because it is something that need to be solved. Obesity can be caused by many different things such as genetics, various combinations of hormonal, metabolic, and behavior also appears to plays a role. In the last 40 years the epidemic has prevalence in the U.S has gone up by over 50%. So every two of three adults are now obese which is not good because now it is going to spread to the children. My personal connection to this topic is that a lot of my extended family has type 2 diabetes and I want to help my immediate family so we don't get diabetes. So what is America doing
The fast-food industry is criticized for influencing consumers to make poor choices that lead to their deteriorating health and well-being. While many parties contribute to the flaws in this industry, by exploring the ideas discussed in Craig Smith’s “Marketing Strategies for the Ethics Era,” we will determine why the marketing segment of the fast food industry is a significant part of the issue. We will use Smith’s ideas to understand how advertising affects consumers’ decisions and how it entices them to become long-term, frequent customers of fast food restaurants. After going through each of the elements in Smith’s piece, we will take a look at some of the attempts to reform advertising of unhealthy food and suggest methods on how to alleviate
Take a second to understand why fast food firms choose to sell products that are unhealthy. Their unhealthy products are in a high demand in the food market; in fact, they are simply giving us what we demand for. Most firms have started putting food labels on their menus so there is no room for excuse when making the right food choices. Nobody is forcing us to eat a whole box of Krispy crème donuts or a super-size meal at McDonalds. I believe that we are always looking for shortcuts in life and now we can anticipate there is a shortcut in what we put into our bodies. So we are consistently after things that are cheap, fast and affordable. Who better to attend to our needs than the fast food industry?
Obesity is on the rise, and it affects both adults and children, predisposing us to heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Most people are aware that exercising and eating a healthy diet is important for health and weight control, but there is something else to consider, Obesogens.
“Ever since the 19th century, nutritionists and the general public have accepted the "calorie" as the unit of choice for describing the energy content of food. A calorie is a unit of energy. When you hear something contains 100 calories, it's a way of describing how much energy your body could get from eating or drinking it” (Source 3). Even though there are hundreds of diets to choose from the question that lurks still is why are so many American men, women, and children still be seriously overweight?
“Fast food is popular because it’s convenient, it’s cheap, and it tastes good. But the real cost of eating fast food never appears on the menu” (Eric Schlosser). Fast food chains started to become popular around the middle of the twentieth century. Suppliers in this industry generally produce and sell items such as burgers, french fries, sandwiches, pizzas on some occasions, and an assortment of beverages. Many fast food restaurants specialize in Americanized foreign cuisines from places such as Mexico and China. In light of recent health issues, some food chains have added meals that are somewhat healthier than the average cheeseburger and french fries combo. Despite that, it is more expensive to buy healthier food items such as salads than
Obesity is a big social issue in America. Due to the popularity of fast food and other unhealthy foods, more and more Americans are developing health diseases and disorders. We should be getting the correct daily nutrition amount, but because of our fast paced lifestyles we sometimes do not have enough time. Fast food restaurants make it possible to grab a meal and go. We often do not pay attention to the nutrition amount, but are simply looking for a quick bite to eat that will fulfill our hunger. Fast food is assisting in the increase of obesity in America (“Phrase” par.2).
As Americans, we’re always on the go. When hungry and have no time there are many fast and healthy items available. Many people who say that fast food chains is the main cause of obesity in America because there are plenty of fast food restaurants on every block with very few healthy options ("Do Fast Food Restaurants Contribute to Obesity?"). Fast food business are very easy to find and offer quick service, but there are other options that are healthy, especially in urban areas. Restaurants such as Panera offer a range of items that are healthy and offer a quick service for those on a schedule. In addition to these healthier options, it is also possible to pack their own snack or meal. People often become lazy when it comes to just cooking their meals at home. This choice allows the customer, to control what they eat.