“During the past four decades, childhood obesity rates in America have quadrupled from eight percent to thirty three percent, and today, more than 23.5 million children and youth in America—nearly one in three—are overweight or obese.” –Healthy Communities Healthy Future. It’s a problem we have all taken notice of as everyone know someone that struggles to maintain their weight low, and as a society we also recognize the seriousness of this issue. It has become such a prevalent problem in today’s society that the U.S. senate committee of Agriculture and Nutrition has been using childhood obesity in order to try and push mandatory school lunch standards, and safer caffeine and sugar levels on the various forms of energy boosters and Soda Pop
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That is because McDonald’s, Burger King, Jack in the Box, and Wendy’s among others have become an acceptable replacement for a meal. When asked most Americans understand the dangers that consuming fast food brings. However, when asked if the knowledge of those risks will prompt them to stop dinning at their favorite fast food restaurant, the public almost unanimously answers a big fat no. It makes sense though, fast food restaurants are so abundant that there is almost a 2 to 1 ratio of people to branches of the restaurants in our country. This makes them easily accessible, chances are you’ve driven past a local branch today. Also the price of a fast food meal is considerably smaller than the price of a healthy organic meal. With the average meal costing a measly eight dollars it is no surprise that only fifteen percent of Americans claim to have never eaten at a fast food restaurant. And while it looks healthy because you get your starch, vegetables, meat, grains, and some essential electrolytes, it is mostly all empty calories as the ingredients are processed so much that it is barely even food. The average fast food meal contains one thousand two hundred and twenty six calories—roughly half the recommended daily intake— with close to no protein or the necessary vitamins required to meet the recommended daily intake index. Undeniably fast foods have also penetrated American …show more content…
But those eating habits didn’t start in college, undeniably they got worse, they began at home. Heated dinners are the home made version of Fast foods, they are cheap, easy to come across, and consist almost entirely of empty calories. These food basically come pre-cooked and all they need is to be heated up, they contain countless additives and chemicals to preserve freshness and add flavor, that in and of themselves should be considered a crime against humanity, and they are appealing to a young market. These foods are packed in colorful boxes and pitched to the masses as healthy alternatives to a genuine home cooked meal. These processed/boxed foods are an epidemic and it has been shown in studies that there is a direct correlation between boxed food consumption rates and obesity within a
That is because McDonald’s, Burger King, Jack in the Box, and Wendy’s among others have become an acceptable replacement for a meal. When asked most Americans understand the dangers that consuming fast food brings. However, when asked if the knowledge of those risks will prompt them to stop dinning at their favorite fast food restaurant, the public almost unanimously answers a big fat no. It makes sense though, fast food restaurants are so abundant that there is almost a 2 to 1 ratio of people to branches of the restaurants in our country. This makes them easily accessible, chances are you’ve driven past a local branch today. Also the price of a fast food meal is considerably smaller than the price of a healthy organic meal. With the average meal costing a measly eight dollars it is no surprise that only fifteen percent of Americans claim to have never eaten at a fast food restaurant. And while it looks healthy because you get your starch, vegetables, meat, grains, and some essential electrolytes, it is mostly all empty calories as the ingredients are processed so much that it is barely even food. The average fast food meal contains one thousand two hundred and twenty six calories—roughly half the recommended daily intake— with close to no protein or the necessary vitamins required to meet the recommended daily intake index. Undeniably fast foods have also penetrated American …show more content…
But those eating habits didn’t start in college, undeniably they got worse, they began at home. Heated dinners are the home made version of Fast foods, they are cheap, easy to come across, and consist almost entirely of empty calories. These food basically come pre-cooked and all they need is to be heated up, they contain countless additives and chemicals to preserve freshness and add flavor, that in and of themselves should be considered a crime against humanity, and they are appealing to a young market. These foods are packed in colorful boxes and pitched to the masses as healthy alternatives to a genuine home cooked meal. These processed/boxed foods are an epidemic and it has been shown in studies that there is a direct correlation between boxed food consumption rates and obesity within a