Fast Food Epidemic In America

1150 Words5 Pages

Fast food; a delicious, inexpensive part of most modern American diets. For as little as $7 to $10, a simple American can enjoy a smorgasbord consisting of a cheeseburger, french fries, and a soda. Since the opening of the first fast food restaurant in 1923, White Castle, Americans have dined on a truly delicious pastime. However, is $10 truly the only price to pay when fast food has become a staple part of the working American's diet? With the ever increasing schedules, Americans have become reliant upon consumption of fast food to comply with their lifestyles. As a result, they have become unhealthy as well as the leading nation for the heaviest people. When does a simple $10 meal become a sole part of the unhealthy lifestyle of most modern …show more content…

The two girls were still at a young age at the time and did not know about the dangers of fast food and the damage it does to their bodies. Shouldn't their parents have taught them how to better their nutrition (Santora, 2002)? Like most lessons that are taught to children, it begins at home with their parents. Parents are seen as ones that guide children into the lives of responsible adults. Which means what is learned as a child will follow into adulthood, and typically those lessons come from the parents. So this would mean that the parents are a main culprit in the epidemic of the nation's obesity. However, the question remains is to how it began in the first place. Is there a good reason behind the parents not teaching their children to eat the correct foods? Or is it that parents are too lazy to teach their children that daily consumption of fast …show more content…

They also found that these parents reported to skipping family meals, breakfast, and even eat while on the job. The survey also reported that more than half of the parents consumed fast food more than once per week. Devine and her colleagues gave a suggestion to both employees and their employers to help prevent the need for fast food consumption. These include flexible work hours, optional overtime, providing low-cost healthier food options in the workplace (ie, vending machines, cafeterias, etc.) and packing lunches from home. Is this a feasible option for parents? Can a family afford to work under these conditions and provide healthier foods for their families? What about when a family enjoys consuming fast food regardless of their working conditions (Devine,