Download The Negative Effects of Fast Food

Lexi Shryack
1st Year Writing & Rhetoric
9:00 Nathan Pieplow
Authors Note:
My piece of writing addresses the current issue of the
implications of eating fast food and why there should be
restrictions on fast food. I am presenting health statistics that
determine why there should be restrictions and what type
specifically to the government. This is why I have chosen to
create a white paper, in which I attempt to convince the federal
agency why restrictions on fast food is necessary.
Why America Needs Restrictions
On Fast Food
White Paper
© copyright 2014 LSHealth
White Paper
The Negative Effects of Fast Food
Why America Needs Restrictions on Fast Food Restaurants
The fast food market continues to rapidly increase, placing its restaurants in malls, zoos, airports,
high schools, stadiums, etc. Claudiu Avram explain that in 20 years McDonald’s restaurants
increased 1000 times. So in result, access to fast food has become easier than ever, with now
approximately half of US food spending going to eating out.
Fast food restaurants are known for their convenient and inexpensive meals that seem like the
best option when one is on the go or don’t have the time to cook. Fast food restaurants are
familiar with the specific areas in which they will receive the most purchases hopefully create
brand loyalty. McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, are all well-known restaurants that so many
of the population consumes often, or even daily. However, does the possible health risks of
consuming fast food on a regular basis outweigh the convenience that fast food restaurants
provide?
Because of such a high demand of fast food products we need to ensure that our society is
consuming a healthy amount of nutrients in the food that they are getting. However, it seems that
fast food restaurants focus on the health of the business rather than the health of the consumers.
Shanthy A. Bowman, et al. argues that a major reason behind the increasing rate of obesity,
especially in children, is a result of the fast food consumption. Not only is the population at risk
of gaining weight but many other health implications as well.
Health Effects
A health affect that can be caused by eating fast food is diabetes. Matthew Lee researched that
eating fast food regularly can double the chance of insulin resistance, which increases the chance
of type 2 diabetes. Cardiovascular health is also at risk when eating fast food on a regular basis.
Locations with a large amount of fast food restaurants are 2.62 times more likely to be
hospitalized for coronary issues. Shanthy Bowman et al. state that children eating fast food on a
regular basis could add up to gaining an additional 6 pounds of weight per child per year. This
means that within 10 years a child could gain an additional 60 lbs, than what they would’ve
gained not eating fast food.
LSHealth White Paper
Page 2
What We Are Really Eating
Those who purchase and consume fast food are measured to eat more total fat, more saturated
fat, more total carbohydrate, more added sugars, more sugar-sweetened beverages, less fluid
milk, and fewer fruits and non-starchy vegetables. (Shanthy A. Bowman, et al. 2004)
The Harvard Medical School family health guide explains that saturated fats and trans-fats, also
known as bad fats, can increase total cholesterol. Specifically these fats can increase LDL
cholesterol which assists in the formation of coronary artery blockages. These blockages are
ultimately the culprits that lead to heart disease and hypertension. These types of “bad” fat are
found in beef, beef fat, lard, milk, cream, poultry fat, butter, cheeses and other dairy products.
Many foods in fast food restaurants are made with trans-fatty acids because it allows a longer
shelf life for their products (Dougherty, M. 2007) A typical meal from a fast food restaurant
often lacks the correct amount of quality foods we are recommended to consume. To get a better
understanding of the lack of recommended foods that fast food restaurants sell, we can observe a
study done by Mary Hearst, et al., and a graph of the results. This graph shows statistics of
optimal daily consumption of certain compared to what fast food eaters regularly consume based
on the Healthy Eating Index Score. The orange bar represents the recommended amount of food
groups we should be getting. The green and blue bar represent what regular fast food eaters
consumed on a typical day in 1997/1998 and in 2009/2010.
Inside the Menus
According to Melodie Anne Coffman from Demand Media suggests that the general population
needs 202 to 292g of carbs, 40 to 70g of fat, less than 1,500 milligrams of sodium, 45 to 157
grams of protein, and around 1800-2000 calories daily to sustain a healthy diet. One may order
Page 3
a Bacon Clubhouse Burger with medium size french fries and a medium sized coke from
McDonalds. Sounds like a simple energizing lunch, right? Well this meal totals over 1300
calories, 530g of fat, and 1740 milligrams of sodium. You have already reached your sodium
limit, surpassed your grams of fat limit, and only have around 500-700 calories to eat for the rest
of the day. A Doublicious sandwich from KFC has 1390mg of sodium. That is about the entire
amount of sodium for the day.
Restrictions
Location
Location is a major cause of why people choose to eat fast food. Therefore, there is much
controversy over the restrictions of the location of fast foods. As analyzed above, fast food
restaurants place their locations near schools, knowing the large amount of customer they will
receive from the youth (Bryn Austin et al. 2005). A larger production and easier access to
markets, that contain nutritious foods, should be encouraged. Boone-Heinonen, et al. discovered
in a recent study that there was a relationship between fast food restaurants and low income
Americans, especially those without a car. The absence of a car restricts one from driving to a
market to purchase nutritious food therefore they are more likely to walk to the closest fast food
restaurant to receive food. In addition to low-income areas there are “3 and 4 times as many fastfood restaurants within an area up to 1.5 km from schools than would be expected if the
restaurants were distributed throughout the city in a way that was unrelated to the location of
schools.” (Bryn Austin et al. 2005) There is a good possibility that if fast food restaurants were
limited in certain locations, the total consumption of fast food in those areas would decrease.
Marketing
Food marketing can appear almost anywhere. The radio, television, sports games, internet are all
places that are viewed by any demographic. However, many food marketers strategically market
to the youth. William Neuman believes the including product-based games in kid’s meals and
other type of media advertising is a serious problem. According to Claudiu Avram, The reason
being for marketing to the young population is simply that, regardless of the health content of the
food, any type of eating pattern that a child adapts in their youth usually remains in adulthood.
Fast food business want to keep the business purchases flowing. They are not taking into
consideration the health risks of the children they are advertising to. Mary Hearst, et al. explain
that among the child population, the energy that is consumed from fast food has exceeded the
amount of energy consumed at school. Limiting marketing to the public, especially the youth,
gives a chance for society to avoid these health risks. Limiting the cool/hip image with child
attracting packaging will reduce the child obesity epidemic occurring in our society today.
LSHealth White Paper
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Content
However, changing the content of the food is essential. Reducing the amount of trans-fat,
regardless of the prolonged shelf life would be a tremendous improvement to the health content
of the food. In addition, reducing overall sodium, fat, and calories could contribute to reducing
the obesity problem that continues to grow in our population today. The New York Daily News
describes a new ban in New York which states fast food drinks need to have “fewer than 25
calories per ounce” and “bagels must be cut in half or quarters or ‘mini sizes.’” (Robbins, Katie
2011) Restrictions such as these play a big role in bettering the health of society. It is imperative
that all states receive the same ban and laws against certain amount of nutritional content could
help save the health of our population.
Conclusion
It is time for fast food restaurants to look past what will make them the most profits and the most
business. It is time to look at what fast food restaurants are really doing to the population. Fast
food plays such a huge role in the rapid rate of increasing obesity within America. It is time to
make a change to this current problem. Restrictions on fast food that regard the content,
marketing, and location can make all the difference in impacting our health of our society.
LSHealth White Paper
Works Cited
Avram, Claudiu (2013). Fruit, Vegatables and Fast Food Consumption among University
Students. Timisoara Physical Education & Rehabilitation Journal, 5(10), 54-60.
Boone-Heinonen J, Gordon-Larsen P, Kiefe CI, Shikany JM, Lewis CE, Popkin BM. (2012) Fast
Food Restaurants and Food Stores: Longitudinal Associations With Diet in Young to Middleaged Adults: The CARDIA Study. Arch Intern Med. 2011;171(13):1162-1170.
doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2011.283.
Bryn Austin, Steven J. Melly, Brisa N. Sanchez, Aarti Patel, Stephen Buka, Steven L. Gortmaker
Am J Public Health. 2005 September; 95(9): Clustering of Fast-Food Restaurants Around
Schools: A Novel Application of Spatial Statistics to the Study of Food Environments 1575–
1581. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2004.056341
Hearst, Mary. O., Harnack, L. J., Bauer, K. W., Earnest, A. A., French, S. A., & Michael Oakes,
J. J. (2013). Nutritional Quality at Eight U.S. Fast-Food Chains: 14-Year Trends. American
Journal Of Preventive Medicine, 44(6), 589-594. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2013.01.028
Lee, Matthew. (2011) Statistics of Health Risks From Eating Fast Food. Demand Media. Hearst
Newspapers.
Coffman, Melodie Anne. (2014) Daily Amounts of Carbs, Fat, Fiber, Sodium & Protein.
Demand Media. Hearst Newspapers.
President & Fellows of Harvard College (November 2007) The truth about fats: Bad and Good.
The Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide.
Shanthy A. Bowman, Steven L. Gortmaker, Cara B. Ebbeling, Mark A. Pereira, David S.
Ludwig: Effects of Fast-Food Consumption on Energy Intake and Diet Quality Among Children
in a National Household Survey, Pediatrics Vol. 113 No. 1 January 1, 2004 pp. 112 -118
WILLIAM NEUMAN (2011, April 28) U.S. Seeks New Limits on Food Ads for Children. New
York Times. B1.
2014 Nutrition Information. McDonalds.
http://wallko.com/blue-backgrounds.html
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/fast-food/obesity-vs-fast-food-availability/