Introduction
Since the introduction of fast foods, more people tend to prefer it to home-cooked meals. The argument for fast food suggests that they are easy to access and help save on time. Also, it is claimed that the provision of fast foods allows low-income earners to survive on an affordable diet. The argument makes sense as fast foods provide affordable meals for every individual within a society. However, health care providers argue against excessive consumption of such foods as they are a cause of severe health complications. For example, they are claimed to be the cause for increased type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, weight gains, dental disease, and stroke. In Oklahoma, fast foods are a threat to healthy living which extends to children. Children have been exposed to fast food without proper dietary guidance, which exposes them to health complications. Therefore, is necessary to educate the Oklahoma community on the health risks of high fast food consumption with the hope that they will adjust to healthier diets and ensure that children have proper diets.
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Body
We are at the risk of being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes due to our increased dependence on fast food.
Boseley claims that we do not have to make an effort to access fast foods as fast food outlets surround our neighbourhoods. According to Boseley, the accessibility of these outlets encourages our dependence on fast food by putting us at high risk of getting type 2 diabetes. It indicates that people from such regions have high chances of being getting health complications like type 2 diabetes. Moreover, Boseley claims that it puts one at risk of an increased rate of obesity. Wingerter reports that Oklahoma became the third state to have the highest number of obesity residents. According to Wingerter, in 2017 Oklahoma had a record of 36.5% individuals with obesity complications. She adds that children are among the exposed and the state efforts to curb this problem have been futile. This means as Oklahoma residents, we have the responsibility to examine what we and our children eat. We can observe that our state is currently experiencing increased rates of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure.
It takes at least eating twice at a fast food restaurant to observe an increase in weight that would lead to obesity.
According to Moudon, Kim and Drewnowski, a study that included records of obese participants of the years 2008 to 2009 showed increased weight gain and obesity. This was a result of eating fast foods at least twice in a week, which is a common habit to most of us. However, on the concept of living near fast food restaurants, it was claimed that there lacks a relationship between poor health and nearby fast food location. Barth reports that children are highly exposed to fast foods since they can easily access such meals at cheaper prices. We may also examine that advertisement tend to lure children into feeding on fast food without providing the necessary information about its harm to their health. We should note that Barth argues advertisement of fast food has been linked to increased weight among children. It is something we ought to take into account and educate children on the dangers of excessive fast food consumption.
It is a sad fact that we fail to focus on our health, especially, the type of food we eat.
Anderson, Root, and Gamer also argue that fast food provides large amounts of fats and sugars with little carbohydrates and dietary fibre (16).They report that increased consumption is a consequence of their convenience; hence, facts like reasonable prices, taste and flavour, explain the convenience of fast foods. We can all agree that this is correct as each of us can afford to purchase fast food for the price is as low as one dollar. Wingerter notes that in our case, Oklahoma, most families settle on fast food as they are more affordable. Regardless, these families have children who tend to be exposed to poor nutrition as their families heavily depend on fast food. Anderson et al. observe that fast foods have minimal nutritional quality; they state, “An occasional meal at a fast-food outlet doesn’t hurt, but a steady diet of fast foods provides, for the average person, excessive energy and sodium and too little vitamin A, iron, phytochemicals, and dietary fibre, leading to nutritionally unbalanced pattern of eating” (Anderson, Root and Gamer 16). This shows how we prioritize factors that put our health at risk. It would be reasonable to pay an extra amount for healthy meals than save a small amount and risk developing severe diseases.
Regardless of their health risks, fast foods are not harmful when consumed in small amounts.
Brissette argues that low fast food consumption cannot lead to severe medical conditions. According to Brissette, it is only when we choose to ignore to plan the diets that we risk developing health complications. She also claims that studies on fast food indicated that eating these meals more than once a week was the cause of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Brissette also warns us that the complications could lead to death caused by coronary heart disease. Fast food is not only a problem for Oklahoma as other states have been affected as well. For example, Albala suggests that Hawaiian resident had healthy eating habits until fast foods were introduced; for instance, Hawaii. According to Albala, “this new diethas led to some health problems that continue to plague the native Hawaiian community” (114). The same was the case in Oklahoma where we forgot about healthy eating and focused on cost saving and easily accessible meals.
Conclusion
It has been noted that fast foods have advantages such as saving on time, offering consumers reasonable prices, easy accessibility, and varied taste and flavours. However, the consequences that result from this convenience are severe health complications. For example, high amounts of fast foods put us at risk of getting complications such as type 2 diabetes, dental disease, heart disease, weight gains, stroke, and high blood pressure. It is such a huge price we have to pay for failing to observe our eating habits. Fast foods may provide convenience, but before we make it a habit, we should step back and consider the possibility that our efforts would be futile when we become too sick to do anything just because we preferred the easy way.
- Albala, Ken. From famine to fast food: nutrition, diet, and concepts of health around the world. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2014.
- Anderson, John, Root, Martin, and Garner, Sanford. Human Nutrition. Burlington: Jones & Barlett Learning, LLC, 2014.
- Barth, Natalie. Children are far from protected from junk food ads – especially on social media. The Conversation, 27 February 2018, https://theconversation.com/children-are-far-from-protected-from-junk-food-ads-especially-on-social-media-92382. Accessed 30 October 2018.
- Boseley, Sarah. “Living near food outlets linked to higher rates of type 2 diabetes.” The Guardian, 12 Oct. 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/12/living-near-food-outlets-linked-to-higher-rates-of-type-2-diabetes. Accessed 29 October 2018.
- Brissette, Christy. “This is your body on fast food.” The Washington Post, 1 March 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/sneaking-a-little-junk-food-doesnt-mean-all-is-lost/2018/02/26/828b75fa-1b36-11e8-9de1-147dd2df3829_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.d5bb06160f3c. Accessed 29 October 2018.
- Jiao, J., Moudon, A. V., Kim, Y. S., Hurvitz, P. M., and Drewnowski, A. “Health Implications of Adults’ Eating at and Living near Fast Food or Quick Service Restaurants.” Nutrition & Diabetes vol. 5, e171, 2015, https://www.nature.com/articles/nutd201518. Accessed 29 October 18.
- Wingerter, Meg. Oklahoma climbed to third-heaviest state in 2017. The Oklahoman, 14 September 2018, https://newsok.com/article/5608226/oklahoma-climbed-to-third-heaviest-state-in-2017. Accessed 30 October 2018.
