Fast Food America Essay

Fast intellectual nourishment has become a major phenomenon here in America. According to Eric Schlosser, he writes in the New York propagation, on average $301,369,863 is spent a day on steady nutriment. As Schlosser delivers, Ameri contribute people argon abusing devalued sustenance. In accordance with solid food binging, corpulency has become a widespread epidemic. According to Joseph Mercola M. D. , on a personal website st takes obesity is, A chronic condition that develops as a result of an interaction between a persons genetic makeup and their environment. Here Dr.Mercola expresses how obesity is directly related to an soulfulnesss environment. instantly it is not uncommon to find major fast-flying food chains with in a short distance from residential areas. With so some(prenominal) choices for fast food, Americans disco biscuit to the fast food as an alternative to the good for you(p) home gained meal. The reason for so some(prenominal) Americans alimentat ion out is simply because they are in a hurry or unable to cook and just want aboutthing fast and easy. A mass of these people get into the habit of constantly eating at these fast food chains.According to Morgan Spurlock, in his enrolmentary overseer Size Me, he quotes Elliot Bloom, a young marketing wiz for taco Bell, The fast food chains were sustained by a large group of diners who ate out more than twenty times a month. A immense chunk of this group, about 30% of customers, were considered to be heavy users and accountable for rescue in a whopping 70% of total revenue. These numbers introduce how important fast food has become to Americans periodic eating habits, and get on demonstrates the connection between fast food eating and the increases in obesity.Accordingly, lush amounts of fast food can be very damaging to ones body, and at that place is proof to back up this claim. Director Morgan Spurlock, set out to document a strictly fast food diet, I am exhausting to prove, fast food makes someone fat. Spurlock closely documented his thirty-day McDonalds binge, eating except foods and beverages served at the one of the many Golden Arches. Over the thirty-days, he underwent some amazing conditions that even the doctors and health perplexity professionals could not have predicted. to a fault the usual diversitys which included skyrocketing cholesterol and a major increase in body fat, his liver was showing signs similar to that of a smoker. Though the symptoms that Spurlock see were on a very drastic scale, this is what is slowly damaging many Americans who are unable to control their fast food cravings. Research has shown the inclemency of obesity since the late 1980s, and the studies show the common health tasks related with obesity are Type 2 Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, and Osteoarthritis.However, little is cognize publicly about the dangers of obesity, and the prox repercussions if obesity. According to Nanci Hellmich, writing in the the States Today, she states that, Over all in all, employers and privately insured families spent approximately $36. 5 billion on obesity-linked illnesses in 2002, up from an inflation-adjusted $3. 6 billion in 1987. Hellmichs statistics show a tenfold increase in obesity spending oer a span of fifteen years. If obesity continues to increase at this rate, in the future obesity may become the deadliest disease in America.Hellmich goes on to say, On average, treating an obese person cost $1,244 more in 2002 than treating a anicteric-weight person did. In 1987, the gap was $272. As Hellmich shows in her quote, there make up a connection between obesity and increasing health care cost. Since the legal age of Americans pay for health care, the epidemic spreads beyond those affected directly, and raises prices for the healthy Americans too. Hellmich shows there is a cause for concern, simply because obesity has predominately increased over the past two decades.The problem st arts with the media which influences Americans eating habits on a daily basis. Today Americans have numerous choices in fast food as compared to five to ten years ago. As considerably as more commercials there exists the convenience of eating fast food. Within minutes, fast food is ready to serve at most fast food restaurants, and for comparatively meretricious. Besides the fact food preparation is fast, every year thousands of commercials can be seen on TV. According to Spurlock, on average a superstar person watches about 10,000 different commercials per year, most of them being junk or fast food products.These influential commercials broadcast smart slogans and put up cheap food to attract customers. In a fresh survey, at the Brea perambulation Food Court, when asked if they ate on a daily basis, 28 % of males express yes, while 25% of women said they too ate out daily. A surprising portion of people, 30% said they enjoyed the taste and quality, while majority about 46% s aid there was no time to cook at home because of work or hectic schedules. With so many great food specials and a plethora of commercials, its no wonder Americans turn to fast food for meals.Fast food is practical, quick, and reasonably cheap, though yellow many seem to no care. The first signs of concern came in 2003 when jurisprudence was passed by Congress to help to slow obesity among children. The reinvigorated integrity banned all junk foods from public schools and enforced new cafeteria food requirements. Robert Colin Carter a medical researcher from the John Hopkins School of Medicine showed that the meals served preliminary to changes by school cafeterias exceeded the newly established limits for total and pure fats, set by the content School Lunch Program and National School Breakfast Program.Here Carter shows the importance for the edict, as well as exposing children to healthier foods. In a recent interview, with Sonya Dravenstatt, a School Nutrionist, she stated , The new menu now consists of vegetables, low calorie pizzas, and salads. The insanitary items such as Tatter-tots and French Fries have been substituted with corn, green beans, and fruit cocktail. As Mrs. Dravenstatt mentioned, the meals are better for the students and follow the limits recently established by NSLP and NSBP.As well as healthier foods in cafeterias, there has been a fairly recent ban of unhealthy foods and drinks in public school vending machines. The club soda selection has been exchanged with Dasani water, Minute Maid Juices, and various PowerAde flavors. As for food, all candy and snacks high in fat and sugar have been replaced with healthy low fat alternatives. As well as the changes Spurlock noted in his documentary, there has also been recent public out cry for fast food restaurants to create healthier portions.In 2004 McDonalds forever banished their Super Sized soft drinks and fries, and in 2005 Arbys abolished their Giant Size offerings. piece of music removing these bigger portions from the menu, food chains like McDonalds now offer healthier portions and substitutions. For example french fries can be replaced with a side of apple slices or mini salad and instead of soda a variety of juices are offered (Spurlock). These healthier changes need to be continued ascribable to the fact fast food is a major contributor to obesity. However, the change must begin with the consumers.The numbers show that people are eat out too often and it is affecting their physical health. Since a majority of Americans are either unaware or uninformed on how to resist obesity, the solution should be enforced by the Government. By issuing a plan of action for fast food companies, a majority of unhealthy food can be exchanged with healthier portions. If the Government passed legislation subjecting fast food chains to restrictions on what consumers can purchase, maybe then(prenominal) fast food consumption could help the obesity epidemic.Fast food com panies need to abide by nutrition laws, in the same fashion schools do, to protect naive consumers. The creation of a program could strictly thwart the unhealthy content commonly found in fast food. A program with capabilities to regulate big corps such as McDonalds, Taco Bell, and Kentucky Fried Chicken would be a major success in terms of stopping the widespread disease. Americans need to wake up and character the facts. Consumers must take the initiative to learn the facts on healthy dieting. The problem needs to be dealt with now, and not in the future.Obesity is affecting millions of Americans each year and is a major threat to American childrens future health. If parents and children are not held accountable now, obesity will continue to subjugate lives and cost billions of dollars in health care.Hellmich, Nanci. Health Spending Soars for Obesity. USA Today on the Web 26 June. 2005. 18 Oct. 2005 http//www. usatoday. com/news/health/2005-06-26-health-spending-obesity_x. h tm Mercola, Dr. Joseph. firm page. 2005. 18 Oct. 2005. Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation, The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. New York Times on the Web 2000. 18 Oct. 2005.