Fast food restaurants are extremely popular among many people because of the speedy service, low price and convenience it provides to customers. Many restuarants offer drive-thru services that allow the customers to purchase from a variety of food items including cheeseburgers, hotdogs, fries and milkshakes from the convenience of their cars. Thus, McDonalds is one of the most popular fast food restaurants in the nation. But the high calorie, rich sodium foods such as Big Macs and fries at McDonalds can be an unhealthy choice for consumers. Thus, McDonalds is not my favorite fast food restaurant because its foods are unhealthy and can lead to many serious health problems for consumers.
McDonalds is the world’s largest fast food chain. Since 1955, the company has been serving a variety of fast food items and expanding its menu to include more food choices. Its slogan “I’m Loving It,” has gained notoriety among diverse consumers throughout the world. But although McDonalds offers appealing food items, many of the food choices on the menu are not healthy. With the trend of health conscious foods and products, many consumers are now looking for foods that will help them live healthier lives instead of fast food restaurants like McDonalds, which can be detrimental to their health.
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According to the Obesity Action Coalition, there is a link between obesity rates and fast food. The report shows that fast food restuarants make up 300,000 of the business establishments in the U.S. It also revealed that 33.8 percent of the U.S. population is affected by obesity and 19 percent of children and adolescents are also affected (2015). Thus, the caloric intake of food items from fast food restaurants, particularly McDonalds, contributes to the high rate of obesity among children and adolescents. For instance, the McDonalds Big Mac contains 540 calories, the medium fries at McDonalds contain 380 calories and McDonalds popular large sweet tea contains 280 calories.
Furthermore, McDonalds foods are highly processed and rich in fat and sodium, which is not healthy. Thus, this is the primary reason why I would not recommend this restaurant for people who are trying to live healthier and maintain their weight. McDonalds has gained widespread attention in many countries because of its cost-effectiveness and large selection of food choices. The low price and easy convenience of the restaurants persuades many consumers to choose to eat at the resturant. Many working adults, college students and kids go to McDonalds for a quick and easy meal, but they do not take into account the harmful effects that the high calorie foods can have on their bodies.
Also, the easy availability of fast food restaurants only lends to increased rates of obesity among many consumers, especially school-aged children. According to a study completed by the University of California, Berkeley, fast food affects the obesity rates of 3 million school children (2009). The study also shows that 5.2 percent increase in obesity rates comes from 9th grade children who live in close proximity to a fast food restaurant (2009). Overall, the study provides pertinent information pertaining to the effect of fast food restaurants on obesity rates in children and further helps to show that fast food resturants like McDonalds is unhealthy for many consumers.
Also, the socio-economic status of a particular person plays a major role in the food selection process and obesity rates. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, studies found that obesity was highest among low-income families living in impoverished neighborhoods. The access to fast food resturarants is easy and affordable for low-income families. Thus, they are more prone to eat fast foods, which lead to obesity. Ultimately, the easy access to fast foods can lead to unhealthy lifestyles and potential life-threatening illnesses.
Essentially, with the rise of health conscious consumers and new healthy eating trends, fast food restaurants such as McDonalds are likely to fall in popularity and profit over the next few years. Consumers are now making healthier eating decisions and turning away from high calorie foods found in many fast food restaurants, especially McDonalds. Thus, a decrease in the number of consumers at fast food restaurants will help to reduce obesity rates. Ultimately, this will help to change the eating habits of many consumers so that they can live healthier, longer lives.
- Currie, Janet, DellaVigna, Stefano, Moretti, Enrico, Pathania, Vikram. The Effect of Fast Food
Resturants on Obesity. University of California, Berkeley. 2009. Retrieved from http://www.eml.berkeley.edu. - Muntel, Sarah. Fast Food—Is it the Enemy? Obesity Action Coalition. 2015. Retrieved from
http://www.obesityaction.org. - The Obesity Prevention Source. Toxic Food Environment: How our Surroundings Influence
What We Eat. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. 2015. Retrieved from
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu.
