Obesity+in+America

"Two-thirds of American adults are obese or overweight." But it just isn't the adults who are getting heavier and heavier. "Nearly one-third of California's teenagers are overweight or obese. When families went to get McDonald's, it was usually a treat, but now families eat fast food 2-3 times a day! It's a cheap way to get a meal. But it is some of the most unhealthy food you can put in your body. Who's to blame? The restaurants? The consumers? Or does it go all the way to the CEO's of the fast food companies? Here are some facts to help make the decision.

Today there are fast food restaurants on every corner, this makes for an easy to get a quick, cheap meal. This is true, but one of the major reasons why families eat fast food so much, is their kids. The Happy Meal at McDonald's has a toy. Burger King has a kids meal with a toy and many other big fast food restaurants have some toy or something to draw kids in to eat there. "Fast food branding really does make food more appetizing to children. A study has revealed that preschool kids prefer foods wrapped in McDonald's packaging over the same snack wrapped in unmarked packaging." The Happy Meal toy and packaging is what makes it so popular. This means that when the children want McDonald's Happy Meals, then the parents have to eat there too.

What is the health policies on these unhealthy cheap meals? "The calorie-posting mandate, signed into law by President Barack Obama as part of the health care overhaul, assumes diners will feel the culinary equivalent of sticker shock when confronted with calorie counts for greasy, sugary, and fatty foods. So now people can see how many calories and other facts about what they are eating. So the restaurants aren't holding anything back. Is it the people who are consuming this food just because there are so many easy access fast food restaurants. Yes, but restaurant CEO's use marketing and advertising to sell more of this food. So it's a battle between peoples need of a cheap meal versus the unhealthy easy access meals for a bargain price. The people of course don't care about their health, they buy and eat these unhealthy meals. One way or another, as Americans wake up to the fact that obesity is killing nearly as many citizens as cigarettes are, jumbo burgers and super size fries will seem like less of a bargain.

I personally think that having these cheap fast food meals instead of highly priced healthy foods is unfair. People eat fast food because they are lazy or don't have the money to buy, or make good, healthy meals. So if fast food was made more healthy, the problem would be solved. But the expense and time it takes to make healthy food is overruled by cheap fast food. I eat fast food and know it is not good for me, but it's what is available during my busy day.

Overall, the fast food industry is growing and so are many Americans. How can we stop this trend? Fast food is the easiest way to get food. It's not the healthiest but it's by far the easiest access food. Some people are trying to change this fast food revolution but there is always going to be problems with the peoples integrity towards this inexpensive fast food.