This article examines the effects that consuming fast food has on males and females above the age of twenty and helps us understand how this may affect different aspects of their body. One in four(about 26.5%) adults reported to eating fast food regularly, and those who consumed more fast food were higher in energy and energy density. This fast food provided more than one-third of the energy they used during the day; the people who reported eating fast food also had higher body mass index and were more noticeably overweight than those adults who did not consume fast food. A diet of fast food results in a diet of high energy and low in essential micronutrient density.
The article goes in depth to explain that people have come to rely on fast food because their work days have become longer and they have less time to prepare a home-cooked meal, as well as it is cheap for a parent to feed a larger family. The people that were surveyed were divided into different categories to see how fast-food eaters could be broken down. The higher household incomes that lived in suburban areas were associated the most with eating fast food, while African Americans reported eating fast food more than any other race. Those living in the Midwest were more likely to eat fast food(30%, highest) than all other regions, especially the Northeast (20%, lowest). One of the most notable statistics was the decrease of consumption of fast food as the subjects' ages increased. Adults in their 20's were 4.5 times more likely to consume fast food than 50+ adults and were 3times more likely than adults in their thirties.
Males who consumed fast food had 500more calories for energy than those who did not; they also averaged twice as many carbonated soft-drinks. These people's diets also lacked calcium and magnesium, nutrients that are essential to bone health. The more fast food people consume, the lower their micronutrient density will be. The body mass index of those who did not consume fast food was much healthier than those who consumed fast food. Fast food intake by adults continues to grow; more fast food restaurants continue to appear throughout the country and the world, making them very difficult to avoid. Small doses of fast food will not have vast effects on the body; however, if consumption of fast food is not monitored, than the horrible effets will be evident.
-Michael Malgieri
Yeah, the predominence and high consumption of fast food in the United States is a very serious problem. This does not only affect males, but it affects all of society. I have heard many times that when we are adults, there will be more obese poeple than skinny ones, and that our children will be a generation stricken by cardiovascular problems and diabetes. I thought that the article made a good point by stating that one of the reasons we consume fast food so much is because of its convenience and its price. Fast food is served quickly, and in a convenient "to-go" manner that fullfils all of our pressing needs in these fast paced times. It is definitely the perfect option for low income families or families suffering from the recession becasue of its price. Dollar menu option are just one of the ways that these chains lure thrifty customers. This of course, is going to be a difficult problem that we must overcome. We either have to find a way to make healthier eatery more available and convienient for our needs, or we must completely restructure the way we are carying out our day to day lives, which frankly, seems like an overstretch. Our generation is fully aware of the effects that fast food produce on the body and the only ones who can change our ways are ourselves, so....are we really going to keep being,"a fast food nation?"
ReplyDeletefiona alfaro