Category: Fast Food

Introduction

The problem with fast food is that it is made to be addictive to eat which can result in children being addicted to consuming this particular product resulting in it adversely affecting a childs early behavioral development regarding proper eating habits. First and foremost, what you have to understand is that early eating habits do indeed impact the potential for children to become obese. As children get more used to a particular food item, they start to desire to eat that type of food exclusively resulting in the creation of the foundation of their future diet (Cunningham, Kramer and Narayan, 405). With fast food, children are thus exposed to a food product that is full of empty calories, is high in preservatives and has a chemical composition that may have adverse long term consequences. As such, it is in the opinion of this paper that the exposure of children to fast food early on has an adverse effect on them, resulting in the need to prevent the sale of fast food in schools.

The Problem with Consuming Fast food

The problem with consuming fast food on a daily basis is due to the fact that their convenience and serving size results in people eating more than they should in a single sitting. What is interesting about this particular product is that despite the relatively small sizes of some types of fast food (ex: a burger, a slice of pizza, a can of soda, a bag of chips, etc.) they are actually calorie dense. This means that despite being small in size, they can often contain more calories than foods of a comparable weight or density. As a result of their unique structure, people can consume more than 3,000 calories a day from the various forms of fast food they eat without even noticing it (Pan, 2567). This differs significantly from cases where people eat healthy food (ex: vegetables, fish, fresh fruits, etc.) and feel relatively full. Since an average adult should only consume 2,500 calories in a single day, consuming high calorie fast food such as a burger with a large coke is equivalent to more than 50 grams of fat and 1500 calories within a single sitting. Do note that since an average adult eats 3 to 4 large meals within a single day, these calories can add up resulting in a diet containing 4,000 or more calories per day. The end result is that the excess calories get stored as fat and contribute towards the obesity problem within the country.

Impact of Fast Food on our Population

Fast food such as chips, burgers, sodas, and candies has become such a part of our present day culture that it is almost unthinkable to imagine the U.S. without fast food. In nearly every town, city and state groceries, and shopping malls, various restaurants carry some form of fast food that is rapidly consumed by a voracious public that enjoys the taste and convenience of such products. The reason behind this quite simple, fast food is quick and easy to consume and is relatively cheap as compared to other food products. It is due these qualities and its general level of availability that it has become popular with kids and adults alike.

Unfortunately, the prevalence of such a product has resulted in a considerable price that has been paid in the form of growing obesity rates. This is especially true among children wherein 15.5% of kids aged between five to fifteen in school have body mass indexes reaching 30 or higher, far above the norm of 25 or below (Rossen, 123). When taking into consideration the fact that obesity has been connected to ailments such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems and other maladies associated with being overweight, this shows that some means of stopping this current trend must be implemented in order to safeguard the present day population of the country. The source of this problem is related to eating habits that were developed early on in an individuals life, the sedentary lifestyle they lead and the lack of proper education when it comes to the excessive consumption of fast food.

Recommendation

The current problem with approaches in resolving the issue childhood obesity in schools is that there is actually no effective method to prevent a child from eating unhealthy foods. A teacher cannot simply take burger out of a childs hand and tell them not to eat it. The same applies to teachers forcing parents to give their child healthier meals, it simply cannot be done. One way in which the problem of fast food could be resolved would be to include healthy food options to be in school cafeterias, as well as the distribution of calorie and nutrition guidelines to parents which detail the various types of food that would be good for their children. Lastly, the school would restrict or outright ban the marketing or sale of fast food to children within the school premises as well as preventing the sale of other goods which have been connected to the obesity epidemic. If these practices are implemented within the school, then it can be expected that the students will be able to develop the correct kind of eating habits which should result in lower rates of obesity. While it is true that there would be a definite backlash from various food companies over the implementation of this particular policy within the schools, the fact remains that something should be done to prevent the current obesity epidemic in the country and preventing the sale of fast food to children so that they can develop good eating habits is a good place to start such an initiative.

Conclusion

Based on what has been presented so far, it is the opinion of this paper that the exposure of children to fast food early on has an adverse effect on them resulting in the need to prevent the sale of fast food in schools. By putting this particular plan into action this should help in considerably reducing the obesity epidemic that is adversely impacting the U.S. at the present.

Works Cited

Cunningham, Solveig A., Michael R. Kramer, and K. M. Venkat Narayan. Incidence Of Childhood Obesity In The United States. New England Journal Of Medicine 370.5 (2014): 403-411. Print

Pan, Liping. Trends In The Prevalence Of Extreme Obesity Among US Preschool-Aged Children Living In Low-Income Families, 1998-2010. JAMA: Journal Of The American Medical Association 308.24 (2012): 2563-2565. Print.

Rossen, Laruen M. Neighbourhood Economic Deprivation Explains Racial/Ethnic Disparities In Overweight And Obesity Among Children And Adolescents In The USA. Journal Of Epidemiology & Community Health 68.2 (2014): 123-129. Print.

In the contemporary rapidly developing world people are always on the move. They want to save time whenever it is possible. Hence, people prefer not to spend evenings in the kitchen cooking fresh dishes or wait at the restaurant to have dinner. The image of a happy housewife wearing a bright apron is not popular anymore. The way-out for a modern society with women who work equally with the men and have no time to cook is evident. Fast food is gaining leading positions in the food culture. A person may visit a fast-food restaurant, buy a takeaway, or order fast-food home. Anyway, one will get something tasty and nutritious quickly. However, the permanent consumption of fast food can have negative health effects. They include the development of diabetes, hypertension, heart and liver problems, and gaining weight with the following obesity. Whereas individuals cannot blame fast food for their obesity as long as they choose to eat there, fast food causes obesity in America given that the rise of obesity among the worlds population could be attributed to an increase in calorie intake.

Thus, the rise of obesity among the worlds population could be attributed to an increase in calorie intake. It is connected with the fact that people eat more and move less. A lot of people have meals while watching TV or working on the computer. While the brain is busy, a person does not notice overeating. People often eat automatically, not feeling the taste of the food they have. However, overeating is not the only reason for the increase in calorie intake. The consumption of sugary soda, other fizzy drinks or fruit juices is growing. Those liquid calories are often not noticed, but they are the most harmful. Apart from gaining weight, they influence the health of teeth and digestion system. As a result of drinking them, people consume more calories than they need or may lose during the day. This situation certainly leads to gaining weight and further obesity unless the food practices are revised.

Another important reason for people getting fatter is the fact that they are surrounded by unhealthy foods that are incredibly cheap. First of all, food variety has increased substantially in recent decades. A big part of this variety belongs to the so-called junk food. If at the beginning of the 20th-century people preferred home-prepared simple meals, the 21st century is marked with the popularization of fast food. Since trying something new is a kind of fashion today, people enjoy tasting new dishes. It is particularly characteristic of vacations in some exotic countries. People take pleasure in trying every kind of unusual food, salty or sweet, spicy, or greasy. Unfamiliar meals may be a curious experience, but a shock for the digestion system. Moreover, the prices for food are lower than they used to be some decades ago. It makes the food available, but in most cases, it is junk: either fast food or prepared. Real food is still expensive, and not everyone can afford it. Consequently, the majority of the population with medium and low income choose available but not healthy products.

However, individuals cannot blame fast food for their obesity as long as they choose to eat there. It is easier to place responsibility for peoples overweight on popular fast-food chains. Nevertheless, no one can make a person eat something that is not good for him. It is a choice of a person, to cook a salad or buy a burger. If an individual is educated enough and takes care of his or her health, the choice will be obvious. Still, many people prefer ordering a pizza or chicken for dinner instead of cooking. It is always a choice of a person, and no one should be blamed if eating burgers and drinking soda make one by a new pair of jeans.

There can be many various reasons, but the fact is that more and more people eat fast food. They go to fast-food restaurants, order meals home or the office, or just eat in the street. One of the possible reasons for fast food popularity is the change in lifestyle. Many citizens, both men, and women work long or extra hours; children may have extended school days. As a result, people do not have enough time to do shopping for products and then cook. Spending an evening in the kitchen and preparing good food is often considered a waste of time. The active advertising of fast food should also be considered as a factor influencing the peoples choice. They depict bright images of delicious and cheap breakfasts and dinners thus appealing to one of the basic physiological needs for food. Since the food is tasty and not expensive, few people care about its impact on health. The effect of mass fast-food consumption was not slow to arrive. The US faced the problem of increasing obesity both among children and adults. It is a threatening situation since the health of the nation is in danger. Still, people may eat everything if they are active enough to burn unnecessary calories. The primary reason for gaining weight by the people is an energy imbalance. It means that people get more calories from food than they can use during their daily activities. However, the causes of obesity cannot be limited to overeating or low willpower. It is a complex problem comprising metabolic, genetic, behavioral, cultural aspects. It will be wrong to name one factor and neglect the others.

In conclusion, it should be said that the problem of obesity in the United States reached an epidemic level. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, more than 30% of adults are considered obese. The situation is slightly better among school pupils and adolescents. One in 6 children or teenagers is considered obese. It is a dangerous tendency since people with obesity are less productive at work and are more vulnerable to diseases. The problem should be solved both on the local and national levels. Of course, it does not mean that fast food should be eliminated. However, the population should be informed of the consequences of overeating fast food. The primary issue should be that of health. Obesity as a result of fast food overconsumption leads to other diseases like diabetes, hypertension, or liver problems. Another aspect that should be considered is the social impact of fast food expansion. The global spread of fast food culture diminishes the value of the family tradition of cooking or eating together. Children and their parents do not eat together often; consequently, they do not have much opportunity to talk.

Introduction

There are several critical elements without which human life would be impossible, including fresh air, water, and food. People conduct research, share observations, and enhance their knowledge of achieving high-quality products and services and ensuring their safety. At the same time, in this intention to create the best conditions, many individuals neglect the fact that they continue damaging their health by preferring fast food at different ages. In the United States, fast food has already become a part of the American diet, disregarding associated caloric intake and poor quality (Fryar et al., 2018). According to the recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) findings, about 36.6% of adults and 36.3% of children and adolescents consume fast food regularly (Fryar et al., 2018, 2020). Many reasons to support the popularity of fast-food choices exist quick speed, accessibility, taste, and inexpensiveness. People enjoy visiting such places as Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, McDonalds, and Wendys and get the necessary services and fresh food in a short period. Together with evident benefits, fast-food shortages concerning the nutritional perspective should not be ignored. Main fast-food ingredients are high-fat meat, sugar, and refined grains, rich in sodium, fat, and cholesterol (cited in Min et al., 2018). Multiple health problems are reported and related to fast-food consumption. The popularity of fast food affects Americans in many ways, but the threats of obesity, chronic diseases, and unstable immunity remain critical effects.

Cause

When a person visits a hospital to assess health and obtain professional recommendations, dietary habits become one of the first themes for analysis. Doctors and nurses pay special attention to what people eat and how different products may affect their physiological and emotional well-being. Unfortunately, fast food consumption is common in the United States, and many families, including adults and children, choose this option because of personal, social, and economic factors (Min et al., 2018). Even being aware of health risks, they continue visiting restaurants to save time and eat tasty and convenient food. The CDC reports demographic differences in fast food consumption: non-Hispanic black adults (42.4%) and children/adolescents (16.9%), non-Hispanic white adults (37.6%) and children/adolescents (12.9%), and Asian adults (30.6%) (Fryar et al., 2018, 2020). Their styles of life today have significantly changed compared to previous decades. The necessity to work hard and have no time for personal issues has increased the need for fast-food restaurants. Working parents are not able to cook at home for their children or even for themselves. To facilitate their everyday obligations, they find it normal to use fast food and fulfill their basic needs. Children follow their parents examples and get limited options and awareness of healthy food and lifestyles. When they are hungry, they choose between a pizza or a burger and use fries as their preferred snack. Besides, numerous advertisements and captivating slogans are available to everyone, regardless of their age. People do not need to make severe attempts to reach fast food because it is everywhere. It does not take much time to cook this type of food, and the required stomach-filling occurs. No hunger is felt, and staying occupied with more important things is possible. The popularity of American fast food is an option and a trend that grows fast globally.

Effects

Obesity

One of the most evident and dangerous effects of fast-food popularity is an increased risk for obesity. Nowadays, the number of obese or overweight people is relatively high compared to the previous five years: 71% to 66% (as cited in Fuhrman, 2018). Despite access to various data sources to improve dietary habits and reduce fast food consumption, many individuals willfully buy such products. In modern society, obesity is a serious public health problem at the global level. To reduce increased economic and health costs, many researchers and healthcare providers recommend avoiding fast food and considering dietary changes when possible (Min et al., 2018). According to Fuhrmans findings (2018), only 5% of the American population demonstrates normal weight proportions because they follow healthy eating principles and active lifestyles. The author also introduces the term Fast Food Genocide to underline the significance of this problem (Fuhrman, 2018). Fast-food diets are characterized by high levels of saturated fatty acids and refined carbohydrates (Bohlouli et al., 2021). During the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of people have made a decision to stay at home and use delivery services to buy food and drinks. Some individuals have no skills and knowledge about cooking, and they purposefully order fast food because it is cheap and available. However, this food also lacks fibers and other beneficial nutrients (Bohlouli et al., 2021). As a result, poor nutrition and unfavorable substances combined with an inactive lifestyle and isolation cause negative weight changes and obesity. Therefore, fast-food fashion and obesity are closely related concepts, and their analysis has to be enhanced to show people all the potential harms and damages. There are many options for people to feed and use healthy food on their tables. Although it usually requires additional time, it is never too late to learn something new and make the right choice. If obesity can be prevented by reducing the number of fats from fast food, human ignorance towards their health must be ceased.

Chronic Diseases

As dietary intake is predetermined by the decision to buy fast food, undesirable effects on health grow, provoking new risks for chronic diseases. The links between fast food consumption and the development of serious health problems have been established in many studies. Cancer, asthma, diabetes, kidney disease, heart attacks, and even Alzheimers disease lead to a list of chronic diseases that inappropriate fast-food preferences may explain. One should understand that irregular consumption, like one or two times per several months, is not that dangerous for human health. However, many Americans, either children, adolescents, or adults, like to increase the number of visits to at least once a day. As well as contributing to obesity, they should also know that excess weight is the reason for chronic diseases, explaining the relationship between fast food and chronic diseases (Fuhrman, 2018). When people experience weight discomfort because of fast food, they try to reduce the number of calories and lose weight by any possible means. Fast-food eaters consume about 11.3% of their total daily calories (Fryar et al., 2018). Their goal is to reduce this number and improve their body forms with time. Still, a wrong consumption and reduction of calories turn out to be serious damage to body systems and provoke metabolic requirements changes. Low body fat percentage does not affect the skeletal mass and bones in a short period, and the metabolic rate slows down, decreasing the respiratory quotient, lowering the temperature, and challenging the thyroid function (Fuhrman, 2018). Food with too fat or sugar concentration leads to abnormally high glucose levels and insulin amounts, aggravating angiogenesis and cellular replication (Fuhrman, 2018). These changes create a favorable environment for diabetes and tumor growth, meaning that people may be diagnosed with cancer. Energy intake cannot be properly controlled, and new problems grow disproportionally, proving that the popularity of fast food negatively affects American health.

Damaged Immunity

Maintaining immunity is a requirement for peoples well-being, and fast food devastates the immune system. Taking into consideration that American fast-food diets are defined as deficient in antioxidants and phytochemicals, not all immune functions can work properly (Fuhrman, 2018). These foods initiate intrinsic immune system activation and increase oxidative stress markers (Bohlouli et al., 2021). In other words, most body systems are not able to complete their functions, and the organism becomes weak. Resistance to harmful external factors plays an important role in human health promotion. When some failures in the immune system occur, there is no natural protection against ordinary illnesses, and people are not able to deal with infections and manage inflammation. During the coronavirus crisis, vaccination and hygiene are required not to damage the growth of immune cells (Bohlouli et al., 2021). However, protection against the virus is impossible when fast-food impairments are not recognized or neglected. In children, immunity is weak because of different factors, and the task of parents and other caregivers is not to allow other triggers to affect their development. Fast food fashion continues spreading through media and interpersonal communication, neglecting its harm to immunity. Young people and children do not recognize these threats but undergo the impact of their peers and other relatives who support the idea of visiting a restaurant and buying some fries or burgers. Healthcare providers are not able to cooperate with all individuals. If there is an opportunity to talk about fast-food outcomes, obesity and chronic diseases may be mentioned, and immune deficiency remains poorly discussed. Considering current virus threats, people need more information about how to protect and strengthen their immunity. If there is a chance to reduce harm to health, it should be used, and education of the youngest population is a vital step. If immunity is damaged and not restored, new comorbidities and diseases can be diagnosed as short- and long-term outcomes.

Conclusion

In total, the popularity of fast food in the United States is a serious cause for people to address their health problems and negative psychological changes. Sometimes, individuals are born with immune complications or chronic diseases, and such situations require immediate interventions and treatment. However, most Americans do not even understand or simply neglect the fact that they destroy their bodies by taking fast-food products. Increased glucose levels, fats, and sodium amounts are critical for the functioning of all body systems. Fast food is the source of this damage, and many people take this step consciously. They believe that small amounts of food are not dangerous and never notice when irregular decisions become a habit. If adults are more or less informed about the risks of obesity, chronic diseases, and weak immunity, children are not aware of these threats and follow the offered brand. The popularity of fast food is dangerous for American health and has become a significant social and health problem to be addressed.

References

Bohlouli, J., Moravejolahkami, A. R., Ganjali Dashti, M., Balouch Zehi, Z., Hojjati Kermani, M. A., Borzoo-Isfahani, M., & Bahreini-Esfahani, N. (2021). COVID-19 and fast foods consumption: A review. International Journal of Food Properties, 24(1), 203-209.

Fryar, C. D., Hughes, J. P., Herrick, K. A., & Ahluwalia, N. (2018). Fast food consumption among adults in the United States, 2013-2016. CDC.

Fryar, C. D., Carroll, M. D., Ahluwalia, N., & Ogden, C. L. (2020). Fast food intake among children and adolescents in the United States, 2015-2018. CDC

Fuhrman, J. (2018). The hidden dangers of fast and processed food. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 12(5), 375-381.

Min, J., Jahns, L., Xue, H., Kandiah, J., & Wang, Y. (2018). Americans perceptions of fast food and how they associate with its consumption and obesity risk. Advances in Nutrition, 9(5), 590-601.

Essay about Fast Food: Introduction

Food is an integral part of any culture and society around the globe. Until the last century, most people used to eat fresh, home-cooked food. Eating was a process that required specific preparations. However, now, we see that they prefer to eat fast food such as pizza, hamburgers, or fried chicken.

These fast-food restaurants have become common on our streets, and people of all ages visit them. The popularity of these restaurants has increased internationally. There are many reasons why fast food has become popular, and fast food also has some serious effects on humans and society.

Causes of Fast Food: Essay Body Paragraph

The basic question is, what made fast food so popular this last century? One answer would be that the change in lifestyle compared to before is a cause for this. It pushes workers or people to eat fast food than cook food themselves.

For instance, two working parents are a good example of this. Due to their jobs, they do not have time to cook for their children or even themselves. As a consequence, they find it easier to order from these fast food restaurants rather than cook. That is why they favor fast food over their own cooked food.

Another cause of fast food usage is long working hours, which may also lead people to eat outside the home. There are many fast-food businesses in our cities. Some are McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut, etc. We can make a long list with hundreds of names from these restaurants.

During the last couple of years, we saw a lot of advertisements and promotions for those restaurants. Nevertheless, there still remains a question of why they spend to promote ineffective food. What are the reasons for this? The answer is that fast food is easy to cook. It does not take long to cook, and it is readily available. The shareholders of these businesses have their own goals, that of the profits they get from these restaurants.

Effects of Fast Food: Essay Body Paragraph

Above, we have seen the causes that may have led to the flourishing of the fast-food industry. However, what is more important, is its effects on society and human beings. The primary effect that fast food has on human beings is that it can get your health in danger status. First, fast food can cause vitamin deficiencies that may, in turn, help to cause diseases.

Obesity is one of the consequences of fast food on the human body. Obesity comes because fast food is the factor that enriches the body with fats. So people will become less healthy, less effective, and less productive, and this is the conclusion of obesity (Adams, 2007, pp. 155).

Another serious effect of the popularity of fast food presences is the loss of the family tradition of eating together. The family used to eat together, and thus they had the opportunity to talk with each other about daily problems.

Fast food also affects the income of the family. The conclusion is that fast food is more expensive than the food you cook for yourself.

Fast Food Causes and Effects: Conclusion

In conclusion, it can be said that fast food has been born out of the modern way of living in our societies. Unfortunately, its effects on the human body and health are unfavorable. It also has other adverse effects on the income of a family. It would be best to avoid eating fast foods as much as possible.

Reference list

Adams, C., 2007. Reframing the obesity debate: McDonalds role may surprise you. Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics, no. 35: pp. 154-157.

Abstract

The success puzzle for organizational change implementation management strategy delivery operates on the ability to balance the soft skills that determine organizational principles.

Besides, defining the value of the business, determining requirements, clarifying the vision, building teams, mitigating tasks, resolving issues, and providing direction complete the response projections, which shall be addressed in the proposed change that involves improving the performance of the McDonalds Company and enhancing its customer focus. Change planning is an important policy that aims to promote long term success in change objectives. The proposed change will involve improving efficiency and employee performance to reverse the current trend of reduced sales.

Organization Change Environment Needs

McDonalds Fast Food Company has been in operations for more than two decades. The company is known for fast food products such as burgers, hamburgers, fries, and soft drinks, among others. The company is a global leader in the fast-food industry (Vickers, 2005, p. 27). The McDonalds Company has more than 500 restaurants across the world. These restaurants are either corporations or partners. McDonalds sales have dropped in the recent past. The company needs to improve its performance and enhance customer focus.

The current problems at the company cover a wide range of issues from the executive leadership at the top of the organization, the product, and service delivery, and to the customers as well as the marketing strategies. Thus, there is an urgent need for performance improvement and enhancing customer focus in order to ensure business sustenance.

The poor performance of the customer-centricity strategy has been attributed to serious competitors who seem to have copied the companys strategies and have been successful in implementing them. Specifically, these competitors are poaching the companys best salespersons and are away ahead in offering customized services to their clients (Liu, Liao, & Peng, 2005, p.217). Though the customer-centricity strategy is healthy, the implementation process was poorly organized and hurriedly integrated in the marketing structure despite the sentiments of the sales staff.

The current customer-centricity strategy does not include finer details of implementation modules and success reporting in the face of other business dynamics that did not have anything to do with the customers demands. For instance, the expansion strategies adopted in the year 2010 were poorly informed since proper research on their viability had not been done.

Coupled with the market economic climate swings, the company is facing the fear of possible breakdown due to stiff competition. As a result of competition and customer changed preferences, the current financial performance in terms of sales is very dismal. In addition, the poor communication system between policymakers and implementers have affected the marketing strategies for the company as the sales support team seems misinformed on the scope and requirements of successful sales. The above dilemma presents an ideal environment for implementing the proposed change (Vickers, 2005, p.29).

Change Management Pan

Theoretical Perspective

Positive Reinforcement Theory

Leadership qualities evoke a modification of behavior in other people. It produces a positive reinforcement to peoples ideas and performance. It occurs due to the positive effects of leadership. It provides a suitable stimulus to evoke the best performances of people (Carson, 2006, p.397). With reference to the McDonalds Corporation, positive reinforcement may be applied, as indicated below.

Contingency Theory

The Fiedler contingency model describes a leaders ability on the basis of the contingency of the situation. There are two kinds of leaders, according to this theory. The first are those that develop a good relationship with their people to deliver a task. The second are those that are only oriented towards the task at hand. They make the accomplishment of the task as their primary aim and take all the steps towards the achievement of this goal (Winchester, 2006, p.561). With reference to the McDonalds Corporation, positive reinforcement may be applied, as indicated below.

Focus Performance Management

Through focus performance management, the HRM personnel of the McDonalds Fast Food Company will be in a position to create clear goals on performance appraisal, manage a positive feedback channel, and offer continuous and systematic coaching to ensure that employees perform at optimal productivity level.

Thus, the best way to motivate the employees is by giving them responsibilities for achieving something and the authority to do it in their own way, as discussed by the equity theory of change management. Through this approach, employees will be empowered, and they will feel trusted and valued by the management personnel and the company (Carson, 2006, p.398). Reinforcing positive employee behavior will improve the current performance of the company, as discussed in the table below.

Reinforcing Positive Employee Behavior

(Source: Self-generated)

Planning of the Proposed Change

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Proposed Plan

Sustainability of the proposed change guarantees the better performance of the McDonalds Company. Its benefits are tangible and non tangible in running the organization. Therefore, managers should include these practices in the strategic plan in the change. However, this may prove challenging due to a number of reasons. Implementing sustainability may require an overhaul of the usual way of carrying out business for the McDonalds Company. However, managers can change some internal business processes upon receiving approvals from stakeholders. These changes may not be approved hence hindering implementation.

The management may lack experienced expertise required for fast track implementation of sustainability. This hinders implementation. Finally, management needs to strike a balance between reputation and business and implementing sustainability (Appelbaum, Bartolomucci, Beaumier, & Boulanger, 2004, p.19). This occurs when the sustainability project affects a group of people, as is the case in the McDonalds Corporation. Thus, the management may choose not to implement the sustainability project so as to protect the reputation of the business.

Solutions to the Challenges in the Proposed Plan

Communication with employees should be done early in the decision-making process. The message should be meaningful and accessible. This should be done throughout the entire three months of the change implementation. The consultation needs to be inclusive, well documented, communicated, and balanced within a suitable follow-up process. The negotiations and partnerships in the change process should be in the best interest of the stakeholders.

There is a need to establish reachable and reactive ways for the employees to raise distresses and complaints about the proposed change throughout the three months of implementation. Lastly, there is a need to report frequently to the stakeholders on the general performance of the proposed change. The dynamic essence of change proponent should not facilitate any state of quagmire or conflict as the unnecessary pressure associated with change should be integrated in a more consultative, proactive, and structure system for managing the proposed change of the McDonalds Company (Conceicao & Altman, 2011, p. 41).

Results Measuring Process

In order to present an alternative but flexible change plan, the process should be able to allow the McDonalds Company to plan for future desirability and be able to achieve them while responding to the rising circumstances. Being cyclic in nature, it operates on the perception that management of change in an organization is an interactive process. Direct, as the first dimension deals with making an alignment.

It ensures that all the objectives are thought in the right way and then articulated appropriately to create a platform on which the other four dimensions will rely and operate. In the case of the proposed change at the McDonalds Company, the task of the implementation committee should be in a way that it is evidenced both to the internal and external stakeholders. As an exemplary behavior, it needs to be incorporated into the management system in order to be in continuous evaluation. Achievement of these factors will only occur if the behaviors of the employees are clearly defined and described appropriately (Cardenas & Crabtree, 2009, p.61).

Translation of both direction and vision strategies towards operations that require description is the second dimension. Operational strategies are plans that ensure functions are well articulated as required by every section of the business. Thus, the implementation committee of the McDonalds Company should embrace the four key enabling strategies which include strategy towards resourcing, strategy for managing performance, rewarding strategy and final strategy to ensure proper communication in the organization within the three month period (Conceicao & Altman, 2011, p. 38).

Define forms the third model the management has to adapt to ensure organizational change. This approach, though mostly ignored by most of the organization managers, is crucial in the ongoing processes within the organization. Thus, the McDonalds Company should ensure that the change encompasses various aspects such as procedures, policies, and processes that ensure implementations in the businesses are fulfilled. Delivery of the strategies is the fourth strategy that the management should strive to embrace.

It ensures that consistency in implementing overall values and visions of the organization is quantifiable and within reach. Reflectively, depending on the organizations management decision-making process, it may not guarantee commitments to its implementation (Hofstede, 2009, p. 548). This strategy calls for communications to appropriate models demonstrated through behaviors as displayed by the employees and the change implementation committee of the McDonalds Company.

In the fifth position is the dimension that ensures the development and is placed above all requirements to ensure that there is appropriate monitoring of the processes. The above elements will be applied to the McDonalds Companys proposed change. The feedback tracking success measurement is summarized in the table below.

Conclusion

In conclusion, from the whole aspect of organizational management change, the five outlined dimensions are normally cyclical in nature. They create a link to all factors that will contribute to change in the Macdonald Corporation.

References

Appelbaum, S., Bartolomucci, N., Beaumier, E., & Boulanger, J. (2004). Organizational citizenship behavior: A case study of culture, leadership and trust. Management Decision, 42(1/2), 13-43.

Cardenas, J., & Crabtree, G. (2009). Making time for visionary leadership. College and University, 84(3), 59-63.

Carson, M. (2006). Saying it like it isnt: The pros and cons of 360-degree feedback. Business Horizons, 49(2), 395-402.

Conceicao, S. C., & Altman, B. A. (2011). Training and development process and organizational culture change. Organization Development Journal, 29(1), 33-44.

Hofstede, G. (2009). Cultural constraints in management theories. Academy of Management Executive, 7(1), 81-94.

Liu, S., Liao, S., & Peng, C. (2005). Applying the technology acceptance model and flow theory to online consumer behavior. Information System Research, 13(2): 205-223.

Vickers, M.R. (2005). Business Ethics and the HR Role Past, Present and Future HR. Human Resource Planning, 28(1), 26-32.

Winchester, M. (2006). Positive and negative brand beliefs and brand defection/uptake. European Journal of Marketing, 42(6), 553-570.

Abstract

The amount of deaths that obesity and the diseases that come from being obese or overweight is increasing every year. It is getting out of hand and the people of America should know the truth. I see on the internet that individuals praise overweight/obese people because it has become a trend. What they do not know is what being overweight can do to you, as in give you diabetes, heart problems, and can lead to death. This paper explains obesity and what being overweight or obese can do to you and also what it can do to young children who are obese. The childhood obesity rate seems to be getting higher. I think that obesity should be more investigated instead of praised. I suggest we do more research on obesity and what harm it can do to your body in the future instead of pretending like being extremally obese will not eventually kill you.

Obesity

If Individuals observe American today, they will be able to identify that the rate of obesity has gone up, not just in adults but in children also. For instance, about one-third of all adults in the United States of America are overweight and another third are obese (Kessler,2013). The adults that are in the category of being obese are more likely to end up with diseases faster than the ones who are in the category of being overweight. Being obese leads to many health problems including diabetes, heart disease, and some kinds of cancer (Kessler,2013). What people seem not to understand is that individuals that are in the range of being obese or overweight are more likely to catch the diseases cause by being overweight/obese. As of today, I have observed that every time I see an overweight child, I also see that his or her mother is struggling with thier weight also, so that means they carry that weight onto thier child, I do not just mean physically, also mentally and emotionally.

An estimated 64.5 percent of Americans older than 20 are overweight (Metcalf & Metcalf,2007). When being obese you will have some pain throughout your body. Approximately 83 percent of technologist have reported some pain when moving obese patients (Metcalf & Metcalf,2007). When nurses must move obese patients, they most likely will have to call other nurses in the room to help them because the amount of pain there in trying to move with patient. Two-Thirds of Americans weigh more than they should to be healthy (Kessler,2013). The pain that you will go through because of all the body fat you have from being obese will have you crying and in enormous pain.

Fast Food Causes Weight Gain

America today make the fast food industry way cheaper than they healthy one and that causes people to buy the fast food and that makes them gain weight. You would when you go to any fast food restaurant, that the price of a cheeseburger is no more than 2 dollars but a salad will cost you around 5 to 6 dollars and most people go for the cheeseburger because it saves them money. A lot of processed food is marketed to young people. (Kessler,2013). Fast food restaurants, high energy drinks, candy bars, and other snacks are all heavily advertised to teens (Kessler,2013). Overeating is also a way to gain weight quick. A Strange part of the overeating problem is that thin people struggle with it to, they may not be obese but they spend a lot of time thinking about food tempted to eat (Kessler,2013).If that is the case what do you think individual who are overweight do when they think of food? They eat until they cannot take anymore and that’s how they gain weight so fast.

Foods loaded with sugar, fat, and salt activates your brain reward center (Kessler2013). When you see food that you know has sugar in it you automatically want to eat it and it’ll make you happy. The food industry designs food that are hard to resists (Kessler,2013) The food that have a lot of sugar in them and the ones that taste good are very hard to resist, so instead of resisting you eat it anyway and it makes your taste buds feel good.

Ways to Lose Weight

There are a lot of good ways to help you lose weight. Like going on a diet or exercising or as some people do, they get gastric bypass surgery. Body chemistry can be regulated through regular exercise (Metcalf & Metcalf,2007). If you exercise daily, you will boost your metabolism and start losing weight. A BMI over 25kg/m2 is overweight and a BMI over 30kg/m2 is obese (Nakaya,2006). If you are extremely obese or over a 30kg/m2 BMI, you can be approved for gastric bypass surgery. Patients who have undergone gastric surgery keep of at least 50 to 65 percent of excess weight over 5 to 15 years (Metcalf & Metvalf,2007). The risk of infection during surgery can be a detrimental side effect of gastric bypass (Metcalf & Metcalf,2007). If you want the safest way to lose weight, I will prefer exercising or dieting because that way you will not have any complications. Statistics show that one in three hundred gastric bypass patients die from the surgery (Metcalf & Metcalf,2007).

Ages to obesity

At birth the human infant contains about 12 percent body fat (Katz & Weaver,2003). As we get older our body fat decreases and if we eat more food our bodies store those foods and if they are unhealthy, they will be stored as fat. During the first years of our life, body fat rises rapidly to reach a peak of about 25 percent by six months and then declines to 18 percent over the next 10 years (Katz & Weaver,2003). The fact that once we get older and older over the next 10 years our body fat decreases and we still can become so severely overweight is shocking. By the age of 18, males have approximately 15 to 18 percent body fat and females have 25 to 28 percent (Katz & Weaver,2003). Women are to gain weight faster than males and it is harder for women to lose weight rather than males. As a woman we tend to try to watch out weight more than males because our appearances are what most important to use but males can weight a ton and not care because they do not get as insecure as females. The frequency of overweight increases with age to reach a peak at 45 to 54 in men and at ages 55 to 64 in women (Katz & Weaver,2003).

Causes to Obesity

There are plenty of ways that can cause individuals to be overweight or obese. One can be going through a lot of pain and food can be their only source of happiness. Obesity and overweight now affect more than 50 percent of adults Americans (Katz &Weaver,2003). The key causes are increased consumption of energy dense, food high in saturated fat, sugar and reduced physical activity (Nakaya,2006). If obese and overweight people do not exercise often, they will have a low metabolism and gain weight very quickly. Child obesity can also stop at the hands of thier parents because they can feed them more fruits and veggies and have them go outside to play to get exercise in. Instead kids nowadays are more into television and phones so they will not even bother to go outside. Several mechanisms led to obesity including neuroendocrine imbalances, drugs, diet, reduced energy expenditure and genetic factors that led to certain syndromes and predisposition to obesity (Katz & Weaver,2003).

Insurnace and workdays

Insurance for obese and overweight individuals are getting much higher over the years since the obesity rate has gone up. According to the national business group on health, obesity cost employers 13 billion a year and results in 39 million lost workdays (Metcalf & Metcalf,2007).Since you are overweight and cannot not work on your feet for very long you will either call out , slack on you work or be sent home and that cost employers their workdays because they have to have someone else fill in your spot. Most obese individuals have Medicaid because they cannot take care of their selves and cannot work and stand on their feet on their own. They will have to get a family member to help them with everything and if that person lives with someone, the person they live with will have to work all the time to pay the bills unless the overweight person get social security from not being able to work. The person who is overweight or obese will have a lot of visits to the hospital due to problems with their body, so they could end up paying hospital bills. Laying in the bed all-day can-do damage to your body, resulting in body damage and making another trip to the hospital.

The Calories We Burn

An inactive individual at rest burns between 800 to 900 kilocalories during a 24-hour period (Katz & Weaver,2003). When you are sleeping you burn more calories than when you are awake. Your muscle is more relaxed when you are asleep. 20 years ago, a cheeseburger had 333 calories, today it has 590 calories (Metcalf & Metcalf,2007). So even if we wanted to eat less calories, we would have to find something like a protein bar because today everything has high calories in it. Parents today love feeding their kids a happy meal not knowing it has a lot of calories in it and that can make your child grow up to be overweight because of how they are feeding them. About 17 percent or more than 12 million kids aged 2 to 19 are obese, another 12 million are overweight (Kessler,2013). If parents keep feeding their children fast foods, they will never stop their child from being overweight.

Parents could fix that situation by proving their child with more food options. They can introduce them to fruits and veggies and if they do not like it they could try to make it seem like it is something sweet or make it look like it is something that they eat all the time. Parents will buy their children a happy meal rather than something healthy because it is cheaper. The child will get used to eating that and will always want that certain type of food. There are more people in the world who are overweight than those who are malnourished according to the world health organization (Metcalf &Metcalf,2007). This is because that fast food is so cheap now that even a homeless person could buy food from there. Parents save so much money on buying happy meals rather than getting their child something more expensive like a salad to eat.

What Being Overweight/Obese Can Do To Your Body

When you are overweight or obese, it can take a toll on your body and sometimes you don’t even know it. When you are overweight or obese, it can take a toll on your body and sometimes you don’t even know it. Being obese can bring extreme damage to your body and being overweight will not bring as much damage as if you were obese. The damages that this can do to your body is that it can bring disease and eventually death. A nationwide study found that at least one-third or 7.5 million teens are so out of shape that they are at significant risk of developing heart disease (Metcalf & Metcalf,2007). Also, obesity is associated with increased risk of illness, disability and even death (Metcalf & Metcalf,2007). So, you see when you are obese or overweight you have health risks that can end up killing you. Obesity is closely related to several other chronic diseases, including heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, certain cancers, joint diseases, and more (Covington,2017). Saying so this means that obesity is also a disease and it should be looked at as one because in the long run all these diseases can end up killing you.

The Diseases That Obesity Causes

The types of diseases that obesity can cause are heart disease, Diabetes, Cancer, Joint diseases and many more. The primary ones that most individuals get from being overweight/obese will be heart disease and diabetes. Obesity itself is also a disease as I have explained already. Diabetes is the most common that most people would get, and this disease can lead to a lot of things that can hurt you in your future. According to the American diabetes association (ADA), 6.3 percent of the American population suffers from diabetes (Nakaya,2006). Approximately 85 percent of people with diabetes are type 2 and of these, 90 percent are overweight or obese (Nakaya,2006). This means that the category that has diabetes the most are the individuals that are overweight or obese. Being obese can also cause you to have mental illness. While mental health disorders increase the risk for obesity, having obesity also increases the risk of mental health disorders, especially in certain populations (Covignton,2017). You can sleep less, eat less and even not do any physical activity because of that mental illness that obesity has cause you.

Diabetes can do a lot of things to your body especially if your obese. Type 2 diabetes is most caused by obesity and the lack of physical activity, many experts contend (Nakaya,2006). This disease is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure and leg amputation (Nakaya,2006). In some cases when I have seen an obese man or woman, I could tell that they could not see in either the left or right eye.

Heart diseases can send you straight to the hospital. You can have a heart attack. You can have fluid in your heart by all the greasy foods you eat and that can put you in cardiac arrest. You may even have to have heart surgery because of how much food intake your heart has endured. If people want to fix this, they will have to do better at eating and more exercising.

Obesity can cause people a lot of pain but there are ways that they can fix it. For instance, obese people can go outside and play or just take a walk and think about how to change their lives. Being overweight/obese can do a lot of harm to you like cause you to have diabetes and heart problems, it can cause you to lose workdays and can even put you out of a job. America has to stand up and try to help these individuals lose weight or they can eventually die. People can only help themselves but it is no harm to try to help them out either. The claims that excess weight kills 300,000 Americans each year is bizarre and its assumption that overweight people are officially immune to all other causes of death (Nakaya,2006). Obesity can be stopped and should be stopped.

References

1. Covington, M. (2017, Feburary,8). Why Is Obesity A Disease. obesitymedicine.org: Retrieved from https://obesitymedicine.org/why-is-obesity-a-disease/.
2. Katz, S. H & Weaver, W. W. (2003). Encyclopedia of Food and Culture: Obesity to Zoroastrianism. New York, NY: Charles Scribner Sons.
3. Kessler, D. A. (2013). Your Food Is Fooling You. New York, NY: Roaring Book Press
4. Metcalf, T. & Metcalf, G. (2007). Perspective on Disease and Disorders: Obesity. London, UK: Greenhaven Press.
5. Nakaya, A.C. (2006). Obesity: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press.

Many people are quick to blame fast-food restaurants for the rising rates of obesity, but are places like McDonalds and Subway really to blame, or are they just an easy excuse for the poor decisions we make when it comes to food choices? I believe that obesity is not the fault of the people that make the food, but the fault of the people who buy it, and there are two main reasons why. Firstly, no one is forcing you to eat fast food. Yes, their smart advertising may make it seem impossible to resist their food, but it is your personal choice whether you decide to eat it or not. Secondly, by law, all nutrition information is written on the packaging of the food item. You know what you are eating, you know the consequences, but it all comes down to what you choose to do. People are always looking for someone to blame and the fast-food industry is always the target.

Picture this, you are driving home from a long, hard day of work and you see a Hungry Jacks advertisement that states “5 for $5.95! Grab our delicious nuggets, mouthwatering cheeseburger, legendary small fries, small drink, and mini drumstick ice cream for only $5.95!” It would seem ridiculous to turn down that offer, right? This is called smart advertising, where brands use catchy slogans, incredible images, cheap prices, and meal deals, to make fast food look and sound appealing, and make it almost impossible for customers to resist their products. But in saying this, this is no excuse. No one is threatening you, no one is brainwashing you, and no one is pressuring you to eat these incredibly fattening foods. At the end of the day, it all comes down to your personal decision, on what you decide to put in your mouth. The whole matter of the subject is a choice, no one is forcing you to buy it.

Let’s face it, in the case of obesity people are looking for people to blame for their problem, but the hard reality is that they are to blame. Many people try and use the “but we don’t know the ingredients in these products, so it can’t possibly be our fault that the foods we eat are causing us to become overweight” excuse when it comes to consuming fast food items, but truth be told, this statement is a lie. By law, all packaging must state the ingredients and nutrition facts. The New South Wales Food Authority states that food labeling informs the consumer of the properties of food offered for sale. The information presented on the label must be visible on the outside of the package, be obvious and must not mislead the consumer.

All in all, the matter of all this is that it is a choice to eat healthily or not. Companies like Dominos and KFC may provide the bad food, but that certainly doesn’t mean you have to eat it. You are the driver of your life, you may be on the wrong street but you can always turn around or find another street to go down. So before you go to blame the fast-food industry for the rising rates of obesity, think to yourself, who’s fault is it really?

Obesity is a medical condition that occurs when a person carries excess weight or body fat that might affect their health. Obesity is generally caused by the aggressive marketing and over consumption of fast foods, frequency of eating and genetics.

One of the causes of obesity is the aggressive marketing and consumption of fast foods. Junk food producers are extremely aggressive marketers. Their tactics can get unethical at times and they sometimes try to market very unhealthy products as healthy foods. These companies also make misleading claims and they target their marketing specifically towards children. Today, children are becoming obese, diabetic and addicted to junk foods. Heavily processed foods are often little more than refined ingredients mixed with additives. These products are designed to be cheap, last long on the shelf and taste so incredibly good that they are hard to resist. By making foods as tasty as possible, food manufacturers are able to increase sales and encourage overeating. These are highly engineered products, designed to get people addicted.

One of the main reasons people cannot stop eating fast food is because of the low cost. As per a research conducted by the University of Washington, a diet containing 2000 calories of fast food costs much less than a diet with 2000 calories of healthy food. This makes it more affordable than going for healthy food and it leads to obesity in lower-income classes.

Fast food restaurants offer convenience as you can always find one in close proximity of your home and can also get food easily delivered to your house. Also, it saves you from going over the hot stove yourself to make something to eat. This makes it a convenient option than making food at home using healthier ingredients.

The unhealthy ingredients of the fast food come in large portion sizes which have grown with the average body weight of a person. As the portions become large, the person will still eat the complete meal regardless of feeling full or not, meaning that people are eating bigger portions of junk food leading to obesity.

Most fast foods contain a large amount of sugar, fats and carbs and less nutrients. This means that you are taking in large amounts of unhealthy calories in the shape of fast food which leads to weight gain and eventually obesity. Most of the fast foods have exceeding levels of sugar and fats which are directly associated with increasing weight and can increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease and arthritis.

Some scientists believe that simple carbohydrates contribute to weight gain because they are more rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream than complex carbohydrates and thus causes a more pronounced insulin release after meals than complex carbohydrates. This higher insulin release, contributes to weight gain as believed by scientists.

According to studies, the consumption of fast food has indeed increased over the past four decades at an alarming rate.

Another reason for obesity is genetics. A mother’s weight and diet during the pregnancy and breast-feeding phases can have a long-term effect on her children. However, fathers are not without blame. Epigenetic changes are passed on in sperm and carry with them a significant risk of developing obesity. Obesity has strong genetic components, meaning that children of obese parents are much more likely to become obese than children of lean parents. This doesn’t mean that obesity is predetermined. What you eat can have a major effect on which genes are expressed and which are not. Put simply, genetic components do affect your susceptibility to gaining weight. According to obesitymedicine.org, people who have obesity have multiple genes that expose them to gain excess weight. One such gene is the fat mass and obesity-associated gene (FTO), which is found in up to 43% of the population. In the presence of readily accessible food, those with the fat mass and obesity-associated gene may have challenges limiting their caloric intake. The gene and other related genes can cause increased hunger levels, increased caloric intake, reduced satiety, reduced control over eating, and increased tendency to store body fat. Genetics also affect hormones involved in fat regulation. For example, one genetic cause of obesity is leptin deficiency. Leptin is a hormone produced in fat cells and in the placenta. Leptin controls weight by signaling the brain to eat less when body fat stores are too high. If, for some reason, the body cannot produce enough leptin or leptin cannot signal the brain to eat less, the control is lost, and obesity occurs.

To top it all off, the frequency of eating also results in obesity. The relationship between how often you eat and weight is somewhat controversial. Reports show that overweight people eat less often than people with normal weight. People who eat small meals four or five times daily, have lower cholesterol levels and lower and/or more stable blood sugar levels than people who eat two or three large meals daily. One possible explanation is that small frequent meals produce stable insulin levels, whereas large meals cause large spikes of insulin after meals.

To conclude, obesity is in fact caused by the aggressive marketing of fast foods genes, and frequency of eating. It is important to take steps I prevent obesity because it can lead to a number of life-threatening conditions These include type two diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke and breast and bowel cancer.

ABSTRACT

This research proposal focuses on the effect of fast-food restaurants leading to obesity and other health issues in Ireland based on the data of other countries such as America.

Those with market-liberal welfare systems continue to have the most significant prevalence of obesity among rich countries. It is often cited in clarification to the effect of inexpensive, affordable, high-energy meat. Instead, overeating is a response to stress, and competitiveness, confusion, and poverty make market-liberal societies more stressful.

INTRODUCTION

Since the mid-1970s, the prevalence of obesity-related diseases has increased rapidly in the U.S. At about the same period, the percentage of fast-food restaurants has more than tripled over the same span, while the number of other restaurants has risen at a much slower tempo according to the Retail Trade Census. In the public debate on obesity, it is often believed that the increased availability of fast-food restaurants is a critical determinant of the drastic rise in obesity levels. Policymakers in several jurisdictions replied by restricting the supply or availability of fast food, or by allowing the caloric content of meals to be reported.

However, there is not strong evidence linking fast food to obesity. Much of it is based on limited sample collections association experiments. In this study, we try to establish the causal effect of changes within fast-food restaurant availability on rates of obesity. Using a comprehensive database on the exact location of restaurants, we question how proximity to fast food affects restaurants.

While it is evident that fast food is always unhealthy, it is not apparent a priority that it should be expected that changes in the availability of fast food will affect health. On the other hand, proximity to a fast-food restaurant may probably lead local consumers to replace unhealthy food prepared at home or eaten in operating restaurants without significant changes in the total amount of unhealthy food consumed.

On the other hand, living close to a fast-food restaurant could minimize the financial and anti monetary costs of eating unhealthy food. Furthermore, proximity to fast food may increase harmful food consumption even in the lack of any cost reduction if individuals have problems with self-control.

Fast food has become a notable feature in children’s menus in the United States and worldwide. Furthermore, few studies studied the effects of fast-food consumption on any outcome related to nutrition or health.

There four main underlying reasons as to why fast food is directly linked to obesity

1. Unhealthy Ingredients:

Some fast-food consists of a large number of calories, fats, and carbohydrates, with less minerals and vitamins. Fast-food means how you take large quantities of unnecessary calories in fast-food form, contributing to weight gain and eventually obesity. Many fast foods have excess sugar and fat levels that are directly connected with weight gain.

2. Larger Portions

Fast food’s toxic additives are further compounded by increased portion sizes that have risen parallel to a person’s average body weight since the 1970s. Even though the portions have become big, the person will still eat the entire meal, no matter whether they feel full or not. That means people eat more substantial parts of junk food that cause an irregular weight gain.

3. Lower Cost

Another of the biggest reasons people are unable to avoid eating fast food is its low cost. A diet with 2,000 calories of fast food costs much less than an intake of 2,000 calories of healthy eating, according to research conducted by the University of Washington. It makes it more accessible than a healthy diet and is a contributing cause of obesity in the lower-income communities.

4. Convenience

The comfort in fast food restaurants. You can always find one near your home, and you can conveniently deliver food to your home as well. Obesity-related allows it a simple choice to use natural foods to prepare food at home.

Studies show that fast food intake has risen at an unprecedented rate over the past four decades. The elevated consumption of calories is a significant cause of obesity in the United States. If regulated, health issues will grow in the years to come as more people are overweight, eating unhealthy fast food.

LITERATURE REVIEW

This research shall mainly focus on the obesity caused by schoolchildren due to the intake of fast foods. The number of fast-food restaurants in America and elsewhere in the world has grown. This research goes through various literature reviews to compare the current and previous data in the growing fast food industry and its implications on the obesity in children and pregnant women.

It is evident that children are mostly affected, and since then, it has been a matter of public debate with politicians trying to transfer blames. It is often seen that fast-food restaurants, with a number in or near schools, is one of the key players to obesity. This has also prompted politicians to move swiftly towards the creation of restrictive regulations to curtail food quality in the food vendors involved.

Also, food manufacturers are forced to give clear guidance on the proportions and amounts of products used to provide consumers trust. Although there is no conclusive body of studies to show that fast-food restaurants are correlated with the rise of children’s weight, to find a solution to the particular problem, I hope to research them further.

On research, these questions tend to provide the answer to the growing obesity problem in school children and the negligence of the parents.

METHODOLOGY ( RESEARCH METHODS)

In data collection, the study will use a quantitative design. The data collection process will be conducted through a sample survey intended to provide additional information about how they eat fast foods and how they compare it with their weights from the school-going children.

Ten schools will be chosen to evaluate randomly. Four of the schools are going to be elementary, while the others are going to be high schools. These are perfect for targeting children aged 5 to 18 years. All of the questions are intended to be covered in the questionnaire. This will require the participants to answer the questions provided, whether’ Yes’ or’ No.’ A question like, Are you a regular attendee to fast-food restaurants? Over the last three months, have you monitored your weight? If it does, was there an increase? Do you and your parents or guardians frequently visit fast-food restaurants?

In the analysis, 100 parents will also be chosen randomly, ten as members from each school, to examine their contribution to children’s intake of fast foods. As the parents come to the school compound in the morning or the evening as they drop and pick up their children to and from school, they will be identified and given questionnaires. The questions will be both open and closed to the respondents. The closed-ended items will allow them to provide a yes or no response.

The questions would include: Are you aware of the diet of your child? Do you always take the child out when the family goes out to fast-food restaurants? Did you observe your child’s weight? Many open-ended questions in support of this quantitative survey will help parents provide further answers that will help them better understand the underlying factors. These include; what else would you strongly recommend as the reason for the weight gain of your child?

Almost all of the questions will be organized on a Likert scale so that the different foods and restaurants that are regularly visited can be given ratings. Through the most popular numerical system application used for analysis, also called the SPSS, the closed-ended questions will then be systematically evaluated quantitatively. The empirical method would provide feedback to the fast-food restaurants about the factors that affect their selection of fast foods, and frequency Data reliability is established when using both qualitative and quantitative methods.

The research would concentrate on young children, including their parents, between the ages of five and nineteen.

The research would concentrate on young children in the chosen schools who are obese. The participants are young to sign the consent forms that will require them to enroll in the experimental analysis, so the school administration and their parents or guardians will be requested for official permission.

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Fast food restaurants are places where everyone goes to eat to get a quick bite, but people don’t understand the effects of it overall on health and business. Many of us don’t think twice about what we eat and this could really affect us and the society. There should at least be some changes in the way food is made, and how they should sell it and where because all this comes into factor with our lives. This research paper will explain how we need to get rid of fast-food restaurants in our society because it causes health problems, targets the low wealth communities through affordable prices, and they convince people to buy through false advertisements.

To begin with, we all know that fast food isn’t good for us, but yet we still eat it which isn’t the best thing to do as it can cause major health issues. One major health problem it can cause is obesity or also being overweight which most Americans are.“Overweight is defined as a body mass index of 25 kg m^-2 or over and obesity as a BMI of greater than 30 kg m^-2.”(Rosenheck R.) With this, we should be able to see how fast food affects our overall health by having too high of body masses and because of this, fast food isn’t the best way to go. Being obese can cause lots of issues and could also kill us, all in all, we shouldn’t be living this way knowing that we could “experience a short life expectancy.” (Rosenheck R.) all because we didn’t choose the healthiest choices to eat. Calories are another factor that fits into our health problems relating to fast food. We should be more careful in what we eat because we go through more calories than we are supposed to. According to Gale student resources from the article Fast Food and Obesity, “the daily recommended calories falls between 1,000 to 2,000 per day”,(Fast Food and Obesity), and just a big mac by itself is 540 calories not adding a drink and fries which could add up already in just one meal to the 1,000 calories. As we can see from this in just one meal we could have already been done with the recommended calories in which we already pass the limit per day.

To add, another reason why we need to get rid of fast food is that it’s not actually real food. Real food is something that comes fresh from a grocery store or we make it homemade, not bought and prepackaged. Some fast food that we eat is “processed to the point of not decomposing after more than a decade is not actually real food and shouldn’t be consumed.”(Mercola, Joseph) Since our food is processed so much why do we eat it? We eat it because we are so used to society giving us these types of things that we don’t care if it’s bad so we do it anyways or in this case eat it anyways. Fast food places do this so they can gain profit which has, “transformed American dining into a tasteless, unhealthy, prepackaged experience.”(Marcel, Joyce) We can see by this how since the society really only cares about making money they don’t mind having people become obese or overweight by eating unhealthy food.

In addition, to add to the health issues is that fast food isn’t safe for us as some foods can carry diseases. Some restaurants don’t look into if their food is good so they just give it out and that isn’t the right thing to do. “About 200,000 people get sick every day from a foodborne disease. Of these, 14 die…USDA does not inform the public when contaminated meat is recalled

from fast-food industries.”(Swasy, Alecia) Looking into this quote, we can tell that they try to hide what really goes into their food so that they won’t get a bad reputation and so they can make a profit. Do we really want to let society do this? Do we really want to get a disease and have to spend our own money to get better from what a fast food restaurant caused? No, none of us would really want this to happen, but it does because we aren’t careful. Another fact is that “millions of animals continue to live in confined spaces; suffer mutilation, overfeeding, and neglect, and are slaughtered inhumanely”.(Tracy Brown Collins) They do this as another way to easily make a profit by killing as many animals as they could so the fast food industry could have them ready and packaged and ready to sell. This could also be another reason why some foods carry diseases because when packaging or killing they aren’t sanitary.

Next, Fast food is mostly targeted to the low-wealth communities in poorer areas. They do this knowing that people in the poorer areas won’t go to actual costly restaurants because they can’t afford it. They are wrong though because some actually travel a bit to go to an actual restaurant that sells real food. In this case, since they target the low-wealth communities those communities are more likely to get the diseases and become obese than say high-class people or communities. For example, “ in South Central LA, where a Los Angeles Times survey found that 46 percent of restaurants are fast food chains, compared with 12 percent on the Westside of LA”. (Diet-conscious Los Angeles Eyes moratorium fast-food outlets) Using this example, we see how there are more restaurants for poorer communities because it’s inexpensive and probably closer for those who work more than one job to get a quick lunch than going back home to get food or make food. It is also fast in preparation so they won’t take long to get back to work. However, even though it’s convenient they should have these fast food places, but with healthier options. Another way they target the low-wealth community is by making fast food cheap so it will make people, even more, want to buy it. They tend to “tempt us with empty calories at cheap prices, they offer comfort food and honest value”. (Beato, Greg) They do this so we can buy their food, and so that we don’t starve.

Furthermore, the lower-wealth communities tend to be more Latinos and of the African American race than Whites meaning that society thinks lower of the low-wealth communities with that race than the white race and that is why high communities have more fresh restaurants that sell real and not processed or prepackaged food. With this, “low-income individuals don’t have access to transportation, as a walk to the grocery store could be farther than a fast food restaurant and feeding their families is, therefore, quicker, easier and less expensive.”(Tamara Thompson) Why is it that fast food places are closer to people than grocery stores? We can tell by this that they really now only care about the profit than how people’s health is. If grocery stores were closer we would see a change in people’s choices in food and fewer people would have health problems. Also if there were just changes in our society people wouldn’t suffer so much. For example, “reducing prices on healthful foods is a public health strategy that should be implemented.” (Simone A. French) People would think this is a good idea and would make better choices and have enough to buy fresh groceries so that they can make fresh food that’s not processed or prepackaged and high in calories.

Next, advertising is a big factor that makes people want to get or eat fast food. Advertisements are either in magazines, news articles, or posted on boards, and the most famous thing that shows advertisements is on television. They are posted in these areas so people can notice or see them so that they would want it or want to go buy it. Advertisements persuade people to buy by making things look better than what they actually are or they make something catchy that will catch a person’s attention to buy. For example, “Analysts attribute children’s unhealthy eating habits to this barrage of junk food advertisements”.(Jamuna Carroll) This shows how advertisements cause people and especially kids to have bad eating habits which could lead up to health issues. “There is the advertising of junk food to more than 6,000 young people through TV commercials and other types of media.”(Bubar, Joe) The advertisements that show junk food go to more kids’ channels and media because they are more likely to buy or want it than adults because they don’t know much about what’s healthy and what’s not yet. Another thing is that is issue with advertising is that “foods are prepared in a way that they look delicious”.(PR Newswire) This means that they either falsely advertise to make food look good or it’s good but not healthy. False advertisements can lead to some nasty fast food too.

In conclusion, this research paper explained why fast food places should be gone and changed into healthier places. From this, we learned to be careful in what we choose to eat as a meal because it can lead to health problems like obesity, being overweight, and getting food-borne diseases. People should become aware of this and choose not to eat fast food. Another thing is that it targets the low-wealth communities so people could buy more and that it’s cheap which should change. Lastly, advertisements affect the way we eat as they promote unhealthy food mostly to children, but also to everyone and we should be more cautious of this.