Research Paper
Whether it is due to the ingredients such as saturated fats or the negative health impact for example diabetes or being related to obesity, it is in fact fast food that controls an individual’s life specially when it comes to one’s health. Fast food results in consuming more calories than the desired level which normally results in extra weight gain, eating fast food regularly could increase the undesired risk of obesity; other major causes of obesity are illnesses, genetics and medications.
Fast food is normally high in calories which results in eating too much calories, it can lead to an extra weight gain and ultimately obesity. The research I did has revealed that people who have the habit of eating fast food consume more calories as compared to other people who do not have the habit of eating fast food. People eating fast food, most of the time, also consume extra fat, sodium and saturated fat, while consuming less fruits, milk and vegetables.
The research did also revealed that fast food have unpleasant and unnecessary trans- fat levels that have a major impact on the body and could also contribute to weight gain and consequently obesity, heart disease and diabetes type 2. I was curious about whether obesity is genetic and has to do with one’s parents, it indeed seems to run in the history of families. Found that some individuals have a high genetic tendency to gain extra weight much easier impaired with other individuals that would have fast metabolism, they burn calories at a much slower rate.
Nowadays, food is available at every time of day in any hour or minute, in most of the developed nations. It is found that extra consumption of fast food is consumed by families and that would result in the habits of unhealthy eating, unhealthy eating would result in lower access to nourishing and healthy foods which would result in a high probability for obesity. According to Janice Peterson, “consumers spend billions of dollars on fast food every year which is not a healthy sign. ”
Although, fast food can be an easy and fast alternative to cooking, especially for busy families, but getting the habit of eating fast food and making it a family meal can have a negative impact on food choices in homes and the overall health of entire family. The research I did have revealed that the type Of fat content that is found in foods that our found in fast food restaurants such as French fries and a burger can make an individual one third fatter as compared with other fats containing similar caloric content.
These types of foods that contain trans-fats have been found to lead to health issues such as aviates and obesity. Although, the trans-fats can stimulate the pancreas into generating more insulin for the human body, the trans-fats will also make the body more resistant to managing and controlling the additional amount of the insulin hormone that can cause major problems in the blood sugar. Some researchers have also found that trans-fats can also alter the actual working of cell membranes; when that happens the reaction that happens due to insulin will not show as they usually would.
Obesity has reached the ultimate widespread occurrence in the Lignite States. Obesity is in fact, a widespread occurrence that has developed slowly step by step with the industry of fast food, this slowly resulted in more people affected by obesity which leads to more than quarter of all children and half of all adults in united States are obese. Simultaneously, fast food has become easier and cheaper to buy it is more convenient for people.
Evidence suggests that the link between fast food and obesity can be traced outside the United States it is not in there only, and we are not the only people that face this problem, but the problem by us is bigger than any other countries, the culture of fast food in American fife style has spread like a wildfire in the world. It IS not only a bad habit but it is followed by some unwelcome and undesirable side effects, such side effect would be health issues; diabetes, heart disease, arthritis and different other illnesses.
According to Janet Currie who did research about fast food leading to obesity in other nations, she said people in nations like China and Japan have abandoned conventional healthy diets replaced by fast food, increasing the rates of obesity and as such related diseases have soared, countries that have resisted culture of fast food-such as Italy, Spain and France, obesity is a to much of a problem in these nations because they avoid it as much as they can.
Overall, the positive aspect of this unhealthy habit is the rising awareness about the side effects Of fast food in the United States and all over the world. Not only in LLC. S, but all the way through Western Europe, concerns and awareness have started to rise about the massive systems that ultimately produce, market and distribute their food. The problem of obesity is one thing but obesity in children is another problem; however, the cause of childhood obesity is heavily debated. Many people say that the cause of obesity is because of fast food restaurants they are to blame.
Many parents say that they want healthy choices for their children and they do not want to give them something that is bad for them; however, most of them do the opposite, with many of the foods on fast food menus this is not far from the truth. Throughout my research I have read the statement that childhood obesity is on the rise, and has been for quite some time now. Nowadays, overweight children are being bullied, made fun of, and even being subject to more diseases because Of their weight.
According to the enter for disease control the childhood obesity rate rose from 7% in 1 980 to an unbelievable 20% in 2008 (CDC, 201 1). Parents spend an unbelievable amount of time trying to decide if vaccinations are right for their child, if they should put them on a certain medication, or worrying about mercury levels and other things that they worry about; yet, when it comes to what the children consume we make decisions based on what is convenient over healthy choices.
We all see the ads full of colorful characters and the fun bonus surprise of a toy to convince people into coming to eat at these types of restaurants. Fast food companies have had the ability to catch children’s attention from the start of the “Happy Meal” for example, even the name of this particular meal leaves one to assume that it is responsible for creating a happy feeling. It would make the child happy because they got a toy, but what about the food they are consuming, is it healthy?
Aside from offering toys that are designed to advertise whatever movie or item is entertaining to children at the time, fast food restaurants even offer a colorful playground to draw children in, or they give a sheet of paper and crayons for coloring at the restaurant. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of obesity has more than doubled among children ages 2 to 5 (5. 0% to 12. 4%) and ages 6 to 1 1 (6. 5% to 17. 0%). In teens ages 12 to 19, prevalence rates have tripled (5. % to 17. 6%)” (PAP, 201 1 During my research I came across the article, Don’t Blame the Eater, by author David Zincked, in this article the author talks about the fast food industry and its role in the childhood obesity epidemic. The author shares his personal story about how fast food restaurants such as Taco Bell and McDonald’s led to a weight problem during his high school years. He claims that the ease of accessibility and lack of healthy alternatives make it all too easy to fall into the cycle of unhealthy eating.
The author also contends that the lack of nutrition labels on fast food products leaves the consumer in the dark about what he or she is actually consuming. Many people on daily basis have busy lives and are always on the go, when an individual is hungry and in a hurry there are many fast, convenient, and unhealthy items available. Many people who insist that fast-food chains are a main cause of obesity in America because there are a plethora of fast-food saturates on every block with few healthy alternatives, are not looking at the whole picture.
Sure, fast food restaurants are very easy to find and offer quick, in-and-out service, but there are other options that are convenient, economical, and healthy, especially in an urban area such as Chicago. Restaurants such as Pander and Chipolata offer a range of items that are healthy and provide a quick service for those on a schedule. In addition to these healthier, on-the-go options, it is also possible to pack one’s own snack or meal. People often forget that their groceries at home are always options to prepare meals from.
This choice allows you, the consumer, to control what you are or aren’t putting into your body. For those opponents Of fast food chains and their role in the obesity epidemic, I challenge them to take their food choices out of the hands of others and become more accountable for what they consume by preparing their own food. Zincked also debated in his article that fast food restaurants are every”here and it is difficult for one to find any alternatives, that is why a lot of people go to them because they would be hungry and looking for anything close to eat at.
There are many products and choices available to consumers ACH day; some can do harm, while other products and choices can benefit an individuals well-being. For example, consumers would not blame the owners of a gym for providing convenient locations, there are a variety of exercise machines available for many people, and memberships sold at low costs if there were to be some people who worked out to save their bodies. When people that blame fast food restaurants would start thinking and look at this example I provided, they would not think like that.
Consumers are of course not going to blame a company that would offer them convenience, low prices, ND a wide spread of products. This is unfortunately what happens when fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and other chains that get blamed for being too accessible and leading to obesity in society. Before fast food restaurants were not willingly allowing the nutritional values of their products to be revealed, today this has changed, fast food companies have put the full nutritional information of their products directly on the packaging and wrappers, they would also be found online at their websites.
All other fast food restaurants either post it on the menu board such as the restaurant Pander, which would offer easy access to knowing all the nutritional information of their menu in store, or have it easily accessible online as I mentioned before. Am sure that this is a helpful step forward toward educating the community as to what they are consuming, what nutritional values they are getting from the meals they are consuming. But this would not end obesity. People previously and until now know that eating a Big Mac and fries with the giant soft drinks that McDonald’s offer is not healthy yet they still purchase and eat it.
Knowing the nutritional labels on Hess meals has done little to nothing to stop people from eating these high calorie meals. This leads us back to the point that people who purchase and as consumers need to think that they need to stop blaming others for what they willingly choose to put in their bodies and what choices they make. I applied this health behavior to the Social support is the Aid and assistance exchanged through social relationships and interpersonal transactions one of the most important functions of social relationships.
The number of social relationships a person has, these relationships provide supportive functions o an individual. Social support relates to an individual’s health statues. For example it helps with the self-esteem, if a person has social connections it would leave to a higher self-esteem because the person would be confident enough that he/she has people that would support. Social support also helps a person to cope better with problem and negative events that may go on in their life. Social support also helps a person with being aware of community resources such as seeking help.
There are different types of social support: emotional support, which is a type of support that expresses love and care by one’s family or friend. Instrumental support, which is a type of tangible support that others may provide. Informational support, which is a type of support that provides information to help someone. Lastly appraisal, which is information that is useful for self-evaluation. I also applied this health behavior to the Theoretically Model that constructs of four stages, stages of change, decisional balance, self-efficacy, and processes of change.
There are six stages of change: Precipitation (no intention to change the behavior. Unaware of the problem), contemplation (aware of the problem but to ready to make a commitment yet), preparation (ready to take an action), action (the process of doing something to achieve an aim), maintenance (working to prevent relapse), and termination (completing the process of behavior change). To apply the six stages of change in an example: Precipitation, am not ready to stop eating out at fast food restaurants. Offer information about stop eating out.
Contemplation, I have tried to stop eating out but I can’t increase confidence in ability to stop I am too busy to cook something instead I go out to eat. Preparation, think I am ready to stop eating out now. I went to the grocery store, bought healthy fruits and vegetables. I decided tomorrow would cook a healthy meal. Action, I cooked a healthy meal that was good. Celebrate my success by baking some healthy desserts. Maintenance, never eat out again. Plan strategies for future challenges. Termination, because get busy and don’t have to cook on the weekends I prepare meals for the upcoming week.
A lot of people usually would go back to the preparation stage, which would to interventions to repeat the six stages of change. After the six stages of change comes decisional stress balance which would be the pros and cons of eating at fast DOD restaurants, what WOUld be the benefits Of changing the cons. After that testing out the confidence of an individual through self-efficacy. Fifth individual is confident enough to change their behavior and the temptation he/she would go through. Lastly, would be the processes of change, what activities would help modify the behavior.
I also applied the health behavior to the Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping model. Stress is the subjective feeling produced by events that are uncontrollable or threatening. Stress is different for everyone, perception of events different between ender. Emotional response to stress is also different, and the coping is observed differently. When it comes to females they respond to stressful situations by protecting themselves and their children by nurturing behaviors while males show less of a tendency toward tending and befriending, sticking more to the fight-or-flight response.
When stressful events occur, it would lead to primary appraisal how would a person feel about the event and the harm that comes from it, that would lead to secondary appraisal how would an individual cope with the event which would lead to the outcome of coping r not coping with the event. That would lead to adaptation, changes that are made to be better suited for an individual. To apply this model, a stresses: I am too busy to cook meals at the house. Eating out is bad and would lead to health problems.
Primary appraisal: don’t want to stop eating out because don’t have time to cook. Secondary appraisal: am not ready to stop eating out. Everyone tells me that it is bad and it would lead to health problem. Coping: I need to learn to stop eating out and cooking my own healthy meals. Chose the theoretically Model to apply to the prevention and treatment f addiction. The stages that every person experiences that would make a major life change, precipitation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance.
These stages would help exploring the positive and negative consequences of continued drug use, self-monitoring to recognize cravings early and identify situations that might put one at risk for use, and developing strategies for coping with cravings and avoiding those high-risk situations. Understanding and putting yourself within the stages would be an empowering first step towards a full recovery. Precipitation is the stage t which there is no intention to change behavior in the foreseeable future.
Many individuals in this stage are unaware or under aware of their problems, they don’t think they have an addiction problem and there is no reason for them to quit. This would also apply to eating fast food which would lead to getting addicted. So many people get addicted to eating out that they don’t realize it. At the end it would be hard for them to stop eating out, which would lead to other health problem they may face in the future. Contemplation is the stage in which people are aware that a problem exists ND are seriously thinking about overcoming it but have not yet made a commitment to take action.
For example, “l have a serious problem of eating out everyday, everyone wants me to stop eating out, but it’s hard for me to not eat Out. ” preparation is a Stage that provides intention and the will to change. Individuals in this stage are intending to take action in the next month and have unsuccessfully taken action in the past year. For example, “Although, I have tried to stop eating out in the past and I did not succeed, I will try harder next month. ” Action is the stage in which individuals modify heir behavior, experiences, or environment in order to overcome their problems.
For example, “I come home early now, I prepare and cook healthy meals. ” Maintenance is the stage in which people work to prevent relapse. After the six stages of change comes the processes of change which are ten that helps the patient to move through the SIX stages of change. They are: consciousness raising, dramatic relief, self re-evaluation, environmental re- evaluation, social liberation, self liberation, helping relationships, counter- AU conditioning, reinforcement management, and stimulus co attention goes through the six stages of change they think Of which is the process where the patient thinks of the pros al changes.
Then the patient’s confidence overall during the TTL efficacy would be put to test to see if he/she will not go back behavior. Throughout this essay, have referenced Coziness’s artic the Eater, because he represented good points in his article restaurants are existent and available in large quantities; TTT everywhere. They are also convenient and offer quick, in AR which in fact there is a fast food restaurant call in-n-out.
Tit through a drive through and pick up food to go. However, t personal healthier choices needs to step in and choose hex nutritious options. Consuming fast food products every dad: week, without adding exercise to an individual’s routine, WI problems in health and weight gain, which has been leading are healthier options available either at home by packing y on the go by selecting healthier restaurants.
