Shahla Jalil-Valles

Do Fast Food
 Restaurants Contribute
to obesity?

Over the past years, Obesity in the United States has risen to great amounts. Many people are now finding that this epidemic is greatly advocated by fast food chains and their impressive value meals that can make anyone gullible. With value meals and buckets of chicken for less than a dollar, who can really blame our society? Since the 1970's the rise of fast food chains have nearly doubled in the United States, with familiar movies such as "Super size me" and "Fast food nation" our media has exploded and gotten use to the fad of fast food chains, simultaneously helping the epidemic of obesity.

Why do we prefer fast foods?
What kinds of neighborhoods are more prevalent to fast foods?
Are there any alternatives?
In this short documentary below, they explain the answers to these frequently asked questions! Obesity is rising due to how accessible fast food industry's are, fortunately there are new implements of healthy fast foods, take a looks!
Click here to watch the video!

Significant Quotes

• "Fast food obesity is a problem because fast food meal contains low quality carbohydrates; high levels of saturated fat, white bread, and a sugary soda and also has relatively low fiber content. This kind of eating pattern is entirely gives negative effect, which resulted cardiovascular disease and diabetes in the United States.(Fast Food Obesity)" 

*I believe that this is a very intriguing and significant quote relating to fast food and the epidemic of obesity in the U.S because it has facts stating that the nutritional values of fast food chains are virtually non existant. 

• The average distance from a fast food restaurant in the US to a school is half a mile. The density of fast food restaurants within 1 mile of a school is three to four times the average distribution throughout a city (Calorie Lab 2).

*I believe that this is a significant quote because it shows why Americans are so accustomed to fast food restaurants, if something is so convenient, why not?

•  Over the last 35 years sales in the US fast-food industry has grown by almost 1000%. In 1975 sales equalled $16.1 billion and in 2009 sales were about $160 billion (Calorie Lab 2).

•  Half of the average Americans yearly food budget is spent at fast-food chains (Calorie Lab 2).

* These two quotes signify how fast our lives are spreading into the marketing of the fast food industry. We are constantly growing, promoting obesity every step of the way

Visual Aids

The graph below depicts the effects that the fast food industry are putting on Americans, causing extreme weight gain leading to obesity.

-The first 'global obesity' graph shows that on average, people who ate fast food more than twice a week, gained approximately 10 more pounds that people who kept their intake to a once per week minimum.

-The bottom graphs shows how much fast food Americans really eat and how that number has gained since the late 1970's.

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Though quite humorous, this cartoon  shows how accustomed Americans are to the fast food industry, that a child cannot even recall healthy foods.



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