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The Correlation Between Fast Food And The Obesity Epidemic

One does not have to have an intelligence quotient comparable with that of Albert Einstein to work out that there is a definite link between fast food and the obesity epidemic. One would have to be a total fool not to realize that the serious worldwide general obesity epidemic is largely the result of the rapidly growing fast food industry.

Some Quick Facts

Around thirty-one percent of people here in the United States have a BMI of 30 or more and are considered obese. Approximately sixty percent of US citizens have a BMI of at least 25 and are therefore overweight. The rate of child hood obesity in the United States has tripled since 1970. In 2007 it is estimated that 368,000 Americans died of obesity related health conditions.

How does fast food impact the obesity epidemic? Every year the sale of fast food increases by several million dollars. Much of this money is spent on advertising campaigns designed to increase sales even more. Many fast food and soft drink commercials are aimed at children, who become hooked on junk food from an early age as a consequence.

Are you still not convinced that fast food and the obesity epidemic go hand in hand? Fast food is full of saturated fat and refined sugar and has a very low nutritional value. If you visit McDonalds and purchase a Big Mac, medium fries and a regular medium soft drink you will ingest 1,250 calories in a single meal. In that meal are 56 grams of fat and 1,380 milligrams of salt. The soft drink contains approximately 42 grams of sugar. If you put ketchup on your fries the calorie count increases even more. The fare at other popular fast food restaurants is equally unhealthy.

The Reasons

What is causing the increased consumption of fast food and the obesity epidemic? There are lots of factors that are contributing to the problem. Society has changed in recent decades and, on average, both parents in a family work more hours which leaves little time to cook nutritious meals at home. Fast food tastes good and often contains an addictive additive called MSG that makes people crave it. Furthermore when we ingest fat and sugar a mood-enhancing chemical called serotonin is released into the brain so we subconsciously associate eating it with pleasure. Of course the tempting commercials make it even more difficult to resist the lure of junk food.

There definitely is a correlation between fast food and the obesity epidemic. There is also a correlation between obesity, cardiovascular problems, hypertension and type two diabetes. If everybody in the United States and the rest of the world would only stop eating fast food the obesity epidemic would soon come to an end and society would be healthier for it.