Cause and Effects of Fast Food

Fast food restaurants are popular today because they serve filling foods that taste good, don't cost a lot, and are very convenient for families on the go. But did you know that eighty-four percent of parents reported taking their child to a fast food restaurant at least once a week; 66% reported going to McDonald's in the past week? Or did you also know that snacks and dessert items contained as many as 1,500 calories, which is five times more than the 200 to 300 calorie snack for active teens recommended by the American Dietetic Association? There is no such thing as "bad food" you just have to watch certain portions of less healthier meals. These economic, health, and personal problems below are a result of eating too much fast food.

Fast food is known as a meal on the go. Many people eat in their cars or while doing another activity. This leads to the growing number of 40 percent of Americans now eating outside the home. This takes away from the traditional family dinner which gives a family to sit down and bond in the ways before fast food meals. Families no longer have that time of the day to sit down and recoup about their day, and this concept is now even unheard of for some younger families.

In 1972, we spent 3 billion a year on fast food. Today we spend more than $110 billion. Although fast food is convenient and cheap at the time of purchase, one is actually losing money in the long run. The average cost of a family size meal from a fast food restaurant in about $22. Sound cheap to only spend that much on a meal that can feed the whole family, right? But most people don't realize how far twenty-two dollars goes at a grocery store. You can buy grocery items that will last much longer than one meal, leaving you to get multiple dinners and meals out of it.

60 percent of all Americans are either overweight or obese. Obesity has been linked to: Hypertension, Coronary Heart Disease, Adult Onset Diabetes, Stroke, Gall Bladder Disease, Osteoarthritis, Sleep Apnea, Respiratory Problems, Endometrial, Breast, Prostate and Colon Cancers, Dyslipidemia, steatohepatitis, insulin resistance, breathlessness, Asthma, Hyperuricaemia, reproductive hormone abnormalities, polycystic ovarian syndrome, impaired fertility and lower back pain. One could certainly argue that obesity is not just strictly caused by eating fast food, but it's definitely a result when you eat snacks that are five times the amount of calories a snack should be. Surgeon General David Satcher from the film Super Size me responds that, "Fast food is a major contributor to the obesity epidemic. Left unabated, obesity will surpass smoking as the leading cause of preventable death in America.

Most people are aware of the many health issues associated with the regular consumption of fast food, but now one can also easily see that eating too much fast food is also the cause of families no longer eating meals together, and