Fast Food vs. Obesity
Do Fast Food Restaurants contribute to obesity? By Tracey Cadogan
Obesity has reached epidemic porportions in the Unted States, and it is an epidemic that has grown side by side with the fast food industry. Eric Schlosser in his brilliant and shocking book, Fast Food Nation, describes the United States as "an empire of fat," and he lays the blame for this clearly and convincingly at the door of the fast food industry. SInce the early 1980s, American-style fast food culture has spread like ildfire around the world and obesity has followed, accomponied by its many unwelcome side effects like heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and other ills.
Fast food isn’t only making people fatter, but its also increasing people’s chances of obtaining type two diabetes. People’s muscles and fat cells that have type two diabetes lose the ability to take in a sugar called glucose from their blood. The glucose builds up and reaches very high levels and because of this they get damage to the eyes, neuropath (loss of feeling), kidney disease and heart disease. Most of the people who have type two diabetes are obese or overweight. A long-term study between the link of fast food, obesity and diabetes were tested. It compared the people who would eat fast food at least twice a week to the people who ate it less than once a week. The results showed that the people who are more fast food gained about 10 pounds more then the people who are it less than once a week over a fifteen-year period.
However, fast food is one of the easiest and cheapest ways of eating. It saves a lot of time and money, especially for people who are coming home from work. “As illustrated by the success of fast food, being more convenient than the alternative will almost always give you a significant advantage in the marketplace” (Myers). It’s obvious that there is no quicker or better way to satisfy your rumbling stomach. But then again, what exactly is the price to pay once you’ve had your fill, and now you have new illnesses from eating at fast food restaurants? “In the United States, food-borne diseases have been estimated to cause 6 million to 81 million illnesses and up to 9,000 deaths each year” (Mead). Anyone one of these numbers can be from someone’s family. Most of this bacteria is found in the food you eat from your local fast food joint. Eating at one of these places can cost thousands of dollars in hospital bills, all because of a diseased burger.
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How are Fast Food and Obesity Linked?