The Negative Effects Of Fast Food

“In 2006, Americans spent about $142,000,000,000 on fast food” (Smith). By definition, fast food is food that can be prepared quickly and easily and is sold in restaurants and snack bars as a quick meal or to be taken out. The average American would rather get a quick bite to eat than produce a home cooked meal. With the growth and high demand from the fast food industry, it is shocking to find that the food they serve is extremely unhealthy. Since Fast Food companies are targeting adolescents, it is essential for the health and well being of the population to understand how the consumption of fast food is negatively impacting their health.

Fast food restaurants locate themselves in highly populated areas in order to appeal to a large number of customers. The most populated area 's across the country tend to be around schools, thus fast food industry 's primary targets are adolescents between the ages of 2-19 (Carpenter, Davis). Typically there is at least one or more fast food restaurants within walking distance of schools. In fact, High Schools and Colleges in particular are known to have at least one fast food restaurant on campus or less than a mile away. A study conducted by Bernan Davis and Christopher Carpenter for the American Journal of Public Health explains that over twenty-five percent of students, ranging from

As fast food is high in calories and low in nutritional value, continued consumption impacts the digestive and cardiovascular systems the most. The development of adolescence bodies cannot handle the added stress of breaking filtering out the nutrients and can lead to high blood sugar, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and weight gain (Pietrangelo). These factors are “among the top risk factors for heart disease and stroke” (Pietrangelo). The costly effects that fast food has on the body is a good indicator that it should not be consumed