Factors For Children And Obesity In Today's Youth

One could say one of the biggest issues in America’s youth today is obesity. According to Center of Disease Control and Prevention, “in 2012 more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese.” Many are quick to say the parents are to blame for the way their children eat and grow up. There are parts that parents play, even children play a role in their own eating habits, but they are not the only ones to blame. In today’s society, the income of families are not suitable to handle the cost of needs and time to be able to get them. Parents will do anything in order to be able to provide for their children. When times get hard, they will settle for any job that is offered to them, even if that means dealing with the minimum wage. Companies like Walmart and McDonald’s pay their workers very poorly that all they can afford is some of the things only the company has to offer (Pollan 513). In New Jersey, the minimum wage is $8.38. In the matters of companies …show more content…
Therefore they don’t always have the time to go home and make a big healthy meal for their families. Then there are other times when after working that 12 hour shift, they just want to go home and relax. They decide to do what is quick and able to fill their children so they will not go to sleep hungry; fast food. Fast food is always available at any time of the day and cheaper than most options. One of the reasons why a third of U.S. adults are obese is the lure of cheap, unhealthy food (Brady 519). In restaurants like McDonalds, they have a nice list of food that is about 1 dollars plus tax, which are helpful to people on a budge. However nothing on that dollar menu is healthy. It consists of mainly burgers. There is no option to get a dollar salad the same way one is able to get a dollar burger. It is less likely for someone to want to pay 5 dollars for a salad when they can get 5 burgers for 5