"Fast Food"- The Unhealthy Visual



The discussion around "Fast Food" is increasing. There are concerns about the amount of"Fast Food" our kids are eating. In fact, researchers from the University of California, San Diego, found kids' fast-food lunches, often offered as rewards, accounted for up to 51 percent of most children's daily caloric needs. Moreover, at least 35 percent of those fast food calories came from fat, the study noted. In another study published in the journal Childhood Obesity, also revealed that families went to the fast-food restaurant for the following reasons:
  • The children (and the adults) liked the food
  • Convenience
  • The fast food was a reward
  • The family was hungry, and had no other food options
So, there is not only a concern about how much fast food is eaten subsequently, how television plays a role in this vicious cycle as well. A report in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, was aimed at gauging the effects of a voluntary food industry program called the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI).It found that by 2009, children were seeing fewer high-fat, high-sugar or high-sodium foods in TV ads, compared with what they were seeing in 2003.
Still, the bulk of 2009 ads -- 86 percent -- were for fatty, sugary or salty products, according to the researchers -- down from 94 percent in 2003. These statistics are still appalling.
Check out what television is really doing to our children and what you can do by watching the video below. Don't forget to tell me what you think!


                       What do you think?

References:

More American Kids Eating Fast Food
http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/hsn/moreamericankidseatingfastfood

Junk food still stars in TV ads seen by kids
http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/nm/us_junk_food

Nutrition for a Long Life
http://health.yahoo.net/experts/drmao/nutrition-long-life


Comments

Chef Mauricio's said…
EWWW!!!!! FAST FOOD IS KILLING AMERICA!!!!!
Society hasn't realize that even though it might be cheap and get a nice quantity for their buck, it is killing them physically. I have to be honest, when you've had it for so many years you basically it a craving for it or you just use to a certain routine. But when the pounds start adding up, and bodily problems start happening that's when we have to realize we have to put a stop or slow down on our intake. I've stopped permanently, I'm might indulge in some Rally's French Fries or Chic Fila French Fries but that is as far as I'm going to go. COME ON AMERICA WE OUR THE FATTEST COUNTRY BECAUSE OF FAST FOOD!!!
October 3, 2011 at 8:34 PM
nicholas bonner said…
I wasn't able to watch the clip that goes along with this insert for what every reason, But just coming from my personal experience I know that fast food is becoming a problem in the US. For example after school when headed home instead of going home to eat I would eat out and this is almost an everyday thing. One of the biggest reasons why just as the article said is the convenience of the stop. They are everywhere and it is not something we could blame on the restaurants but on ourselves.
May 16, 2012 at 1:32 AM
DrDSpeaks said…
Nicholas,
You are absolutely correct. It is a personal choice about what we place in our bodies. Sometimes we have to do things that are uncomfortable in order to take care of ourselves.
May 16, 2012 at 9:05 AM
Evan M said…
I think it is disgusting how parents neglect their children's health for the ease of just buying them fast food. Children should not have to grow up being fat because of the fact that their parents are too lazy to make them a home cooked meal. However, I can see how some parents will use fast food as a reward for good behavior or accomplishing goals. Most things are good in moderation, but no child should have to go through pain of being made fun of or the other obstacles that childhood obesity entails.
May 2, 2013 at 8:50 PM
ckthompson said…
As a mother I have for awhile lamented the fact that it costs more for food that is healthy to eat. I do my best to feed a family of 8 people on 800 dollars a month and honestly I do ok but to truly feed us all the way it is recommended that we eat for health and fitness it would cost me at a minimum another 300 dollars a month. I am of the thought that says all things in moderation, McDonald's once a week as a treat nothing wrong with that but heck the fast food costs about as much as a sit down restaurant like Norms or Denny's these days unless you go with the value menus. however that being said most people don't really cook anymore they reheat frozen, boxed, or bagged food and well i am guilty there to cause to prepare a healthy well balanced meal at home the cost is outrageous. so will muddle along and do the best i can on the income i have.
May 3, 2013 at 5:51 PM
Anonymous said…
I believe fast food is taking over the world. I can say that I have fallen under these reasons on eating out. Sometimes as a mom by doing some many errands and I'm far away from home I do stop by a fast food place to grab something to eat for my kids and I. I am always on the road doing work and my kids are with me right after school. I do pack snacks but if worse comes to worse I do buy take out. I am stopping this because it's expensive and unhealthy and I don't want my kids to grow up with junk or be unhealthy. I've figured out ways to prevent us from buying fast food.
Mayra H.
May 7, 2013 at 1:07 PM
Karli Gideon said…
Growing up I had parents that were very fond of frozen food and convienent meals such as pizza and fast food. Since I've had my own child, I have tried to completely change that in our lifestyle at home. We have changed our diets to organic fruits and vegitables, and I try to by the least processed food that I can. Yes, it is convienent, especially when you are a busy, working, studying, single mom, but as a parent in today's society we need to be aware of the things we are putting in our bodies. Thank you for sharing this information !

Karli Gideon
Soc 299
May 14, 2013 at 10:49 PM
Anonymous said…
Although I know fast food is unhealthy for us I still seem to eat it everyday as I read in one of the comments before I do believe the reason why some of us eat this junk is due to the busy schedules we all live on its easier to drive thru when we get hungry than actually cook a good home made meal.
May 16, 2013 at 6:33 PM
Anonymous said…
It's easier said then done. Eating healthy is such a controversial topic. We might wake up one morning and say no more fast food, and time to start hitting the gym. But, sticking to it is hard. Especially, with fast food restaurants in every corner. Americans, seem to cook less and eat out more. Which leads to eating unhealthy, and with the lack of exercise in our daily routine, it makes the average American unhealthy. It's important we find a path to eating healthy and exercise more. Cut done on the fast food.

-Livier Lopez
May 26, 2014 at 9:12 PM
Unknown said…
I wish there was a fast food restaurant or a store that was dedicated to selling healthy but tasty food. When my mom asks which fast food we want I usually say I don't want anything because I end up becoming sick since I feel so unhealthy after eating from Panda Express or In-n-Out. I'm trying to make a habit of choosing to eat from Subway when there is no food at home since I think it's the best choice because I get to see and make the decision of what gets put in my sandwich.
May 29, 2014 at 1:07 AM
Anonymous said…
I prevented from eating fast food about a year ago. The fact that these companies target kids with their animation and characters is sad and is a big deal because of the rate that obesity had increase for the young kids and adults too. People should realize its not about saving time or money its about your own well being as well as your children.

[Pace: C.A.}
May 29, 2014 at 11:38 PM
A.A. said…
We, Americans, need to change! Being on the go, living the fast pace life is killing us. We need to learn to live healthy is exactly right. For starters we need to manage our time wisely. Perhaps then we will not be turning to fast food so quickly. Just today I asked my husband what I should bring home since I have to finish some work and prepare for an exam. He tells me " Elijah got 100% on his report and Briana an A on her presentation in class so they chose Tommy's chili cheese fries. It's true we are rewarding our kids with garbage. I plan on making change for the sake of our well being. Thank you, Professor Wooten, this 20 point assignment has helped me put things into perspective. Here's to a new life!
May 30, 2014 at 10:27 PM
Anonymous said…
The fast food industry is something that has evolved from a family outing to family convenience. With so many of us so busy we find ourselves going through the drive through rather than going home and cooking a good home cooked meal.people won't change until it directly effects us when we get one of the many diseases associated with bad eating habits. Let's hope we don't all wait until then and we can teach our kids good eating habits. Carlos J Garcia
May 31, 2014 at 9:04 AM
Anonymous said…
FAst foof industry great for people in California .. wrong !! people have gotten so use to not cooking and always busy they forget what a home cook meal is like .. Than the issues begin with health and children obesity peeple forget that kids are the ones that get affected not us anymore ..Each generation is changing and we have to prevent our kids to make the right choices so they prevent any ilnesses i have done my best for my kids and myself to eat healthy i understand its difficult at times but with a little sacrifice anything is possible.
LH Hernandez
September 25, 2014 at 6:50 PM
Anonymous said…
I am absolutely never eating fast food again, or I will try.
November 23, 2014 at 10:14 PM
Anonymous said…
I totally agree with this. For parents fast food is always easier and faster but it is bad for children and adults themselves. This will teach me on what to do for my son as he grows.
November 24, 2014 at 3:23 PM
Anonymous said…
As we can see, fast food is not good, but almost people in the world like it. Parents are always busy, so fast food is a good choice for their children. They do not care how bad fast food is. Some care, some don't. So from now, we should teach our children good eating habits. Nhat N
November 26, 2014 at 11:22 PM
Anonymous said…
I have learned that many negative aspects of the American diet is linked to environmental influences and life style, weak proposals take-out salt and oversize drinks from the restaurants is well known. As a result American food has many calories, high-fat meals, overabundance of food, and too many publicity about unhealthy food. Well-balanced diet emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fat free, low fat milk products, lean meats, dense foods and monitoring daily caloric intake.( BZ)
May 11, 2015 at 6:54 PM
Anonymous said…
Fast Food is popular because it is convenient. It is cheap and it tastes good, but the real cost of eating fast food never appears on the menu. Fast Food is very important because I went to In ant Out and got my order in 3 minutes while I go to a restaurant and I wait at least 20 minutes for my food . Fast Food saves my time



May 12, 2015 at 8:41 PM
Anonymous said…
VN
I believe America has one of the highest obesity rate because of a lot of young college students. Most college students don't have jobs or are just working minimum wage. College is already expensive already and most of their work money is going toward their tuition. Fast food is definitely is the most convenient way to get rid of hunger without spending too much.
May 13, 2015 at 11:23 PM
Anonymous said…
Since I moved to the US, I've eaten fast food like crazy. But now I am trying to prevent myself from eating fast food because I've noticed that everytime I eat them, the next day my face is covered with some pimples and acnes. It's so stressful and the amount of money I have to use buy makeup to cover them is another stressful problem. However, sometimes I can't help myself. In our busy lives, fast food is very convencient.
Nhu Nguyen
April 28, 2016 at 7:47 PM
Anonymous said…
It is unbelievable the power that fast food companies have over us. People buy fast food because it is cheap and fast. But in the long run, we will pay the consequences because eating fast food increases our chances of high cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, heart attacks, and many other health problems. I know that sometimes it is hard to eat healthy but it is extremely important that we try. If we buy healthy foods and do our meal prep for the week it will be easier to say no to fast food. It is really sad to see that parents give their little toddlers fries. We should teach healthy eating eating habits early in the children's lives.
-Perla Varela S.
May 1, 2016 at 2:50 PM
Unknown said…
I believe that almost everybody is aware of the latent danger of fast food. Despite of its good-looking and mouth-watering outlook, not to mention alluring advertisements, fast food will slowly damage our body. The thing here is that this is the world of fast food. Everyone comes to fast food because fastfood stores are all around! Americans do not have time to cook because we have to work everyday. We have housework, we have family stuffs to be taken care of. So fast food is the solution.
May 2, 2016 at 10:34 AM
Khanh Nguyen said…
Fast food industry is growing everyday because people live too fast. We created fast food to satisfy our demand. People who are in rush to go work buy fast food. People go home too late after work, there are no more food store opening, they have to buy fast food. People must eat fast food as a back-up plan when people do not have any choices. Never impose on fast food because there are so many calories and grams of fat are packed into fast food. Those are the main factors will kill us inside.
May 3, 2016 at 11:41 AM
Anonymous said…
Being busy and not having much time everyday I see myself eating out quite a fair bit. I know it's not healthy and I'm trying to cut back on it, but recently I saw an ad for this new Wendy's chicken burger and they made it look so good that I actually tried it recently. Advertising has become such a common occurrence in our everyday lives that we don't even question most of the things we see on television anymore and just accept most of it as fact. The information we don't see in commercials is how fatty, and bad this food really is for us and it's slowly hurting us as a society.

-Andrew Nguyen
May 16, 2016 at 10:49 PM
Anonymous said…
This is soooo true, especially for me who is being far from home. Being here in the US without my parents is such a struggle. I spend most of the time having meals outside, and those burgers, fries, tacos, gradually become my "best friends". I can cook but I think I better spend that time studying. Tho we people know it's intensely harmful but still, we cannot do anything than that. Just don't be addicted. What if I was surrounded by children, I would rarely let them eat fast food even when they beg me for that. Not because the ads increase we don't have approaches to prevent this. - An Truong C105 -
May 17, 2016 at 7:30 PM
Anonymous said…
I agree fast food is no good.Eat at home eggs in the morning nuts and salads for lunch protein like fish for dinner with veggies.JC
August 9, 2016 at 3:18 PM
Anonymous said…
It is insane how advertisements target anyone at any age. Definitely UNHEALTHY, it is sad to see kids that are obese due to poor choices in food habits. Fast foods advertisements seek attention and know/ fulfill what their consumers want. As well as knowing it won’t take long to receive as soon as you order it. Processed foods are a NO. Make greater choices and help those who are close to you to be in better conditions. On the road to healthy choices :)
-JMC
December 9, 2018 at 6:44 PM
Nicky Ramos said…
Coming from my personal experience I know that fast food is becoming a problem in the US. For example after school when headed home instead of going home i would go out to eat and this is almost an everyday thing. One of the biggest reasons why just as the article said is the convenience of the stop. They are everywhere and it is not something we could blame on the restaurants but on ourselves. I believe fast food is taking over the world. I can say that I have fallen under these reasons on eating out. Sometimes my mom does some errands and I'm far away from home. I do stop by a fast food place to grab something to eat for myself. I do pack snacks but if worse comes to worse I do buy take out. I am stopping this because it's expensive and unhealthy.
July 16, 2020 at 9:26 PM
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