The problem with fast food

By: Dorian Jenkins

        “Fast food” is the name given to food that can be prepared and served quickly, often served at basic restaurants or in packaged form for convenient takeaway/takeout. It is usually inexpensive to buy, but very unhealthy to consume. Fast food is often highly processed and produced on a large scale to decrease costs. Ingredients and various menu items are typically prepared at a different location before being sent to restaurants to be cooked, reheated or quickly put together for the customers’ convenience. A Seckman High School sophomore, Clara Thurston, says, “I think that the food that they cook at fast food restaurants looks too old and expired to eat.”

            While hamburgers, fries and pizza are known as the world’s most popular fast food items, countries throughout the world sell all kinds of fast foods that might not be so well known. Some examples may include kebabs, Chinese takeout, sushi and bento type foods in Japan and fish and chips in the UK, New Zealand, and Australia. Consumers in the US alone spend over $100 billion on fast food each year. Seckman High School junior, Madysen Hamilton, says, “My family will hardly ever go out to spend money on fast food because it is overpriced for what you get.”

Well known fast food franchises and restaurants include McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Burger King. McDonald’s is arguably the world’s most popular chain of fast food restaurants. There are McDonalds found in over 100 countries worldwide and serve over 40 million costumers a day. Seckman High School senior, Tenecia Clemmons, says, “My family will eat out at McDonalds at least once every two weeks and sometimes even more because of the convenience.” McDonalds promotes their food as “nutritious,” but the reality is that it is junk food, high in fat, sugar and salt, and low in fiber and vitamins. A diet of this type is linked with a greater risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other diseases. Their food also contains many chemical additives, some of which may cause ill-health, and hyperactivity in children. Don't forget, too, that meat is the cause of the majority of food poisoning incidents. In 1991, McDonald's were responsible for an outbreak of food poisoning in the UK, in which people suffered serious kidney failure. With modern intensive farming methods, other diseases linked to chemical residues or unnatural practices, has become a danger to people too.

 However, due to the increased awareness of public health and obesity levels, efforts have been made to improve fast food menus by lowering fat levels or at least by offering an alternative decision. While these health concerns generate more attention, fast food is still linked to worldwide weight gain problems, increase in diabetes, and healthcare costs. Overall, the fast food restaurants that you may visit once a week are truly bad for your body and people should want to avoid visiting and supporting those restaurants to improve your health.