Junk food: the guilt of restaurants
Fast food is delicious, convenient, and satisfactory. Everyone loves frying food. But, our dependence on this meal is costing us health. Especially, the health of children here in the United States. The high rate of childhood obesity in this country is alarmingly high and it is necessary to lower it to improve the health of the population and ensure that these children do not develop other diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease later in life. Although there are many factors that contribute to childhood obesity, the greatest is fast food.
Insalub food advertising through television commercials leads to an increase in children with obesity or overweight. According to a study in ad affects, if they were not ads on fast food or unhealthy food, there would be a 10% decrease in the rate of overweight children and 12% in overweight adolescents. The thinking of food that children like makes them want. Specifically, it is junk food that contributes to weight gain. Ronda Scantlin, in his analysis of the effects of advertising on children and adolescents, says ads "lead to desire and consumption of unhealthy food" (Scantlin). It is clear that the advertising of junk food, or unhealthy foods, causes an increase in the consumption of these products, and therefore an increase in the obesity rate or overweight people between children.
Unhealthy and processed food is proven to cause obesity. According to a group of researchers from Yale University and New York University, the consumption of soda and food with many calories is connected with obesity. Also, researchers mention that weight gain can cause diabetes, another serious disease. It can be assumed that avoiding a diet rich in fast food is much healthier. Supporting this information is a study by Lorna K. Fraser et al. which found that rapid food consumption is related to the body mass index (BMI in English), percentage of high body fat, and augmented probabilities of being obese. Science is clear: eating unhealthy food will lead to diminished health.
It can be argued that a lack of physical activity is the greatest reason for the high rate of childhood obesity in the United States. But research shows that, although it is a factor, it is not the most guilty factor in poor health health. In a session of the United States Senate in 2004, Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon said that physical activity "is only part of the solution" and it is also necessary to implement "the nutritional aspect" to improve the health of children and reduce theobesity. While exercise is part of the problem, it’s not all, and it is not the most important factor. Another study reported that there is a connection between childhood obesity and physical activity, but "precise nature" is not clear and differs between boys and girls.
It is evident that there is a crisis in the surrounding United States. The percentage of children who are obese is 18.5%. That is, almost one in five American children is obese. The factor that contributes the most to this rate is fast food and processed food. Foods rich in fat, sodium, and sugar cause weight gain, and can eventually cause diabetes or heart disease. Exercising is important to maintain or improve health, but a lack of physical activity is not the greatest reason for childhood obesity.
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