Fast Food in America

Fast Food

 Currently, most of the people depend on fast food which is easily accessible rather than cooking food at home which is a time consuming task. Fast food is the most popular food in America. Does fast food proves to be a healthy option for a daily purpose? Is fast food healthy? Being an argumentative topic this term “fast food” comes up with many questions. Fast food is a quick way of filling up your stomach but it is followed by many unknown and known disadvantages.  As a peek in the “Consumers reports on fast food: four big names lose” from the book “The Norton Field Guide to Writing”, the reporter mentions that “ Next time you have a craving for fast food, think twice before slowing down for Burger King, KFC, McDonald's, or Taco Bell”. The fast food restaurants the reporter mentioned here, are the most famous and renowned places, where the consumer is attracted to eat due to food and low prices. In my opinion there is only one reason why anyone should rely on fast food couple of times and that is time saving. It saves time. But there are many other reasons as surveyed by the reporters for people to be attracted towards fast food. One major reason is the low prices. As also mentioned in the research named “Fast foods” from the “Black book” by “Emanuel Goldman- Alfred L. Simon”, that, “McDonald's might not be ready with the problems with its chicken”. But, if we see as a whole the prices of McDonald's are very low which hides the fact that there have been many issues with the chicken it use. People are attracted to McDonald's even today for their meals.  There are many problems caused due to the regular intake of fast foods. Some serious problems are Obesity, weight gain, type two diabetes, coronary artery disease and PCOD. Obesity is one of the most common and serious problems found in Americans. This problem is a clear and direct result of the lifestyle in America. The habit of substituting meals with the fast food gives a birth to obesity in an individual. In the journal, “Fast Food: Unfriendly and Unhealthy” from “International Journal of Obesity”, the author S Stender, J Dyerberg, and A Astrup has given the example of a documentary film 'super-size me', where the character Mr. Spurlock ate McDonald's food thrice a day for 30 days and gained 11 kg. This film raises a question that whether fast food poses a special health risk. This is a very important question to be answered for all the fast foodlovers. The other problems like PCOD and diabetes are a result of fats food intake. The Polycystic ovarian disease found in most of the women these days is caused due to the weight gain. This weight gain is a result of our food habits, like consumption of fast food on a regular basis.  Another reason for the increased craving for fast food among the kids is the fast food ads which are made graphically innovative so as to attract the kids. The recent study shown by “The Washington Post” in their program, “Trying to Cut Back on Fast Food Ads for kids”' mentioned that the obesity in kids of age group 6-11 has gone down because some fast food chains have cut down in their advertising. This statement shows that the advertisements and obesity in kids are directly proportional to each other. This is a strategic advertisement plan for the fast food agencies to make profit. They invest more on advertisements targeting the kids as their main audience and increasing their profits.  Another main audience targeted as the fast food lovers are women. Young women are facing many problems due to the intake of fast foods. In a journal “Dieting Behaviors of Young Women Post-College Graduation”, the authors “Soliah, LuAnn Walter, Janele Antosh and Deeanna”, had conducted a survey that included questions about the eating habits of women and their psychological affinity for food. The conclusion of the survey was not shocking but very obvious that three groups of women appeared to be at an increased risk of unhealthy eating and poor food selection decisions. The unhealthy food here is the fast food. Fast food is the most selling food worldwide. There are many reasons one cannot avoid the fast food. Good taste is one of the biggest reasons. Low prices are another reason which attracts the consumer. Fast food has become the regular meal of people. Whenever I visit any food chain I can see a bunch of people spending their valuable money on something which could be harmful for their health.  The conclusion, henceforth, is very clear that fast food is not healthy in any terms. Fast food consumed results in many problems which are ignored by the fast food consumers. America faces most of the consequences of eating fast food on a regular basis. Some problems are very serious like obesity and diabetes which are a direct result of fast food consumption. It is still not late for the people to put a light on the articles and surveys conducted on the fast food being a disaster and learn a lesson through their results. Fast food industries should be responsible enough to advertise less or maketheir food healthy instead of cheesy and greasy. An individual should keep a track on their diet decisions rationing them with their daily intake fast food and other diet. The comparison would be very useful for an individual to realize how to make their health and wealth lives longer and strong. (937)