Eng 101 – Childhood ObesityENG 1011/21/12Essay #3Childhood ObesityObesity occurs when an individual has more body fat then what is considered healthy for their height. People who have excess body fat are more likely to develop health issues then non-obese people. Sadly, obesity has become an epidemic in our nation, spreading throughout both the adult and adolescent communities. “Recent studies have shown that 17 percent of the nations 6- to 19-year-olds are obese, and that more than a third are overweight. Those rates have about doubled in the past three decades,” (Hotakainen 2012). Unquestionably, there have been many changes in our culture over the last 30 years. Technology and modern conveniences have transformed the way people work and play in the 21st century. Currently, many young people find themselves trying to keep up with schedules that, in most cases, leave little time for healthy choices. Thus, many children find it difficult to maintain their ideal body weight. Undeniably, there are many different lifestyle factors responsible for the obesity issue affecting our American youth today.
Presently, the way Americans prepare food is very different compared to the methods from generations ago. There was a time when most people made their meals from scratch. Families sat down together around the table and ate homemade low processed foods. However, our society has changed greatly over the years. Very few households have time to prepare family style dinners and instead rely heavily on sources that offer fast effortless meals. Regrettably, parents are not always home and therefore cannot supervise what their children are eating at mealtime. Pantries are filled with junk food while family freezers are stocked with microwavable, processed foods. Inevitably, children are fending for themselves and end up consuming foods that will be, more than likely, high in fat, sugar, and calories.
In addition to manufactured foods, children are also frequently eating at fast food restaurants. Studies indicate there is a link between fast food and obesity in young people. Undoubtedly, fast food is notorious for containing high amounts of fat, sugar, salt and calories. Consequently, young children who consume this type of fare on a regular basis do eventually experience weight gain. “Fast-food marketers such as McDonalds and Burger King have reshaped the diets of American parents and kids, and the rise in fast-food consumption has paralleled the boom in childhood obesity” (Ruskin 2003: 33-34). Clearly, fast food restaurant chains have become increasingly popular throughout the country.
The obesity crisis is particularly acute in the states of New York, New Jersey, and Illinois, which each have large fast-growing markets. One major fast food chain chain, the Wendy’s Company, employs between 2.5 and 5 workers in New York and several other high-end fast-food chains like the Burger King chain and the Wendy’s chain in Dallas. In 2008, as cited in this commentary, Wendy’s (N.Y.) opened a $50 million new fast-food shop that opens in a few blocks from the Wendy’s chain, but it also expanded its menu and has more direct competitors with the fast-food chain chain-owned chain, Walmart.
The fast-food business has become one the largest public safety businesses in the United States. Despite this, the current obesity epidemic in children is the number one cause of deaths each year in that country. In 2012, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a 2.5-fold increase in the prevalence of childhood obesity, children’s eating disorders, and severe head injuries. And this is despite increasing U.S. obesity rates that do not compare between United States and other developed nations. In May of this year, the CDC estimated that a national rate of obesity attributable to the United States alone may exceed 3.8 million people in 2012. A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that among the 10 largest counties to which individuals over age 40 can travel as a matter of routine travel, about 50% of Americans consume at least one diet fast or eat less than 50 kcal (4.16 g), the most commonly consumed fast food diet in the United States.
As we can see, the fast-food chain brand has become increasingly popular across the United States. The fast-food chain chain is the single largest consumer of fast-food products. At McDonald’s and the McDonalds fast restaurant chain chain, over two-thirds of all fast-food purchases in America were made by children in 2007. The fast-food chain chain chain is the third largest manufacturer of fast food products in the world and has been a leading leader in the development of fast-food products such as ketchup, hot dog, french fries, and french fries.
The McDonalds fast chain chain stores are home to over 900 restaurants and more than 6,000 franchise restaurants in the country. In 2007, McDonald’s spent $60 million to build 730 new fast-food restaurants across the country—including at least four in Illinois.
The Wendy’s fast menu is a big part of the fast-food chain: McDonald’s is the world’s largest fast restaurant chain with a global market in nearly 4 million restaurants, the number of restaurants in the nation nearly quadrupling. The fast