Fast Food and Obesity in Adults
Bob Smith
English 11
13 May 2013
Fast Food and Obesity in Adults In Aprils addition of Men’s Health magazine there is a picture of salted golden French fries inside a white cup. This advertisement invokes hunger for unhealthy and cheap fast food to consumers. The fast food industries false advertisements, unhealthy food, and long term effects of consuming fast food all lead to the causes and effects of adulthood obesity in the lives of thousands of Americans today. McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s, and other fast food industries have manipulative and deceiving false advertisements that take advantage of the public. One burger takes up on average up to seven hours to perfect, and one burger made at a fast food restaurant takes about one minute to complete. McDonald’s has put the word artificial to a whole new level, with photo shopping the bun and enhancing the burger’s overall color and lighting. Another way fast food companies manipulate and deceive their customers is by targeting children in their commercials because they are young and naive. The American Psychological Association had an article called “The Impact of Food Advertising on Childhood Obesity”. This article states that, “Most children under age 6 cannot distinguish between programming and advertising and children under age 8 do not understand the persuasive intent of advertising. Advertising directed at children this young is very nature exploitative. Children seven to eight years old face twelve to twenty-one fast food restaurant ads per day. When young children are faced with manipulative advertisements they do not comprehend that the commercials are deceiving.” Fast food companies know who to target, and how to do it. (Mcdonalds) Over the past thirty years, the prevalence of obesity and obesity-related diseases in the U.S. has risen sharply. Since the early 1970s, the share of children age 6 to 19 classified as overweight has more than tripled, from 5 percent to 17 percent, while the
English 11
13 May 2013
Fast Food and Obesity in Adults In Aprils addition of Men’s Health magazine there is a picture of salted golden French fries inside a white cup. This advertisement invokes hunger for unhealthy and cheap fast food to consumers. The fast food industries false advertisements, unhealthy food, and long term effects of consuming fast food all lead to the causes and effects of adulthood obesity in the lives of thousands of Americans today. McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s, and other fast food industries have manipulative and deceiving false advertisements that take advantage of the public. One burger takes up on average up to seven hours to perfect, and one burger made at a fast food restaurant takes about one minute to complete. McDonald’s has put the word artificial to a whole new level, with photo shopping the bun and enhancing the burger’s overall color and lighting. Another way fast food companies manipulate and deceive their customers is by targeting children in their commercials because they are young and naive. The American Psychological Association had an article called “The Impact of Food Advertising on Childhood Obesity”. This article states that, “Most children under age 6 cannot distinguish between programming and advertising and children under age 8 do not understand the persuasive intent of advertising. Advertising directed at children this young is very nature exploitative. Children seven to eight years old face twelve to twenty-one fast food restaurant ads per day. When young children are faced with manipulative advertisements they do not comprehend that the commercials are deceiving.” Fast food companies know who to target, and how to do it. (Mcdonalds) Over the past thirty years, the prevalence of obesity and obesity-related diseases in the U.S. has risen sharply. Since the early 1970s, the share of children age 6 to 19 classified as overweight has more than tripled, from 5 percent to 17 percent, while the