Fast Food Observation Essay

For the Fast Food Day assignment, I observed people eat at the McDonald’s located in the Stamp Student Union on Thursday, December 3rd between the hours of 3pm and 4pm. I sat very close to the registers to monitor what people ordered and made some profound discoveries. It was definitely a little creepy watching people as they ordered and ate, but it provided insight into the fast food industry and the impact it has on our lives. My expectations of what I thought I would observe did not match the outcome. I anticipated seeing many overweight and obese individuals and, however, almost everyone I witnessed, “looked” relatively healthy. This was shocking because when people mention fast food specifically, McDonald, I immediately think of the typical long line of unhealthy people waiting for their food. This discovery reinforced the idea that both healthy and unhealthy individuals eat fast food. Often time, people just associate fast foods with overweight or obese people but that is not the reality. Although the people I observed “looked” healthy, appearance is not reflective or indicative of people’s health. I realized you cannot assume that someone is healthy because they look healthy. …show more content…
Schlosser stated that the United States now has the highest obesity rate of any industrialized nation in the world. More than half of all American adults and about one-quarter of all American children are now obese or overweight. I think the reason for this is because we have completely disregarded the meaning of moderation and constantly indulge in the fast foods. Some of my friends eat fast foods from Stamp Student Union almost every day. I was raised in Nigeria and moved to the United States when I was about 8 years old. The idea of fast food was very new to me because in Nigeria, fast foods locations were not as common so people did not eat it as much. Nigeria does not have a high obesity