Fast Food Obesity

Improved Essays
Research has shown the chemicals that are contained in fast food can lead to a variety of health conditions. America’s health is in peril from the rise of fast food because of fast food’s highly addictive properties that create a vicious cycle of abuse. The addictive properties in fast food are harmful since they encourage unhealthy eating patterns. Poor eating habits are the main reason that obesity has taken such a sudden incline in the last decade (Disadvantages of Fast Food). Science Daily reports that the poor eating patterns consist of drinking sugary drinks and eating processed foods as oppose to eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables (Fast Food Obesity). Children are choosing fast food over eating a healthier meal at home on …show more content…
Today, more than 160,000 fast- food restaurants feed more than 50 million Americans each and every day, generating sales of more than $110 billion dollars annually. Everywhere Americans turn, fast food advertisements are being flashed in the faces of basically all Americans (Orciari). In 2012, fast food chains spent over 4.6 billion in advertising, a 8% increase over 2009. According to a new report by the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity, teenagers and children have remained fast food marketers’ target through-out the years. According to a report funded from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, children ages 6 to 11 view 10% fewer TV ads for fast food, but children and teenagers continually view three to five fast food ads on television every single day. Since adolescents are the primary targets of advertising for fast food restaurants, fast food will have a strong influence on food choices. Television viewing, especially during high school, may have long-term effects on eating choices and contribute to poor eating habits in young adulthood (Fast Food FACTS). Even children as young as the age of four have been targeted by fast food restaurants. In 2012, preschoolers were exposed to 1,023 ads from fast food marketers. That’s 2.8 ads a day. For example, McDonald’s display advertisements for Happy Meals increase 63% to 31 million ads monthly. Three-quarter of the advertisements appeared on kids’ websites, such as Nick.com, Roblox.com, and CartoonNetwork.com. For a person who is addicted to fast food, fast food marketers will make it difficult to stop eating fast food because of the constant exposure to the advertisements of fast food (Fast Food

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