Government Regulation of Junk Food, Admission Essay Example

According to registered dietitian Joanne Larsen, junk food is any food that negatively affects a person’s health, especially if it contains concentrated levels of sugar and fat and provides little or no nutritional value to a person’s overall diet (2012). Some of the foods that fall into the category of junk food includes fast food or meals purchased at establishments like McDonald’s and Burger King, and snack foods like potato chips, high sugar bakery goods, sweet desserts, high sugar carbonated beverages, and packaged food that is high in salt and sugar content (Larsen, 2012). Statistically, the consumption of junk food by Americans had increased over the last thirty years and as noted by the Pew Research Center, 44% of Americans consume fast food at least once a week, while 20% consume other types of junk food high in sugar and fat two or three times a week (Fast Food Statistics, 2013). Therefore, due to the fact that Americans have a difficult time self-regulating their intake of junk food, the U.S. federal government must initiate new regulations aimed at controlling the consumption and content of junk food.

Basically, there are four specific reasons why the U.S. federal government must create regulations to help control or lower America’s addiction to fast food and/or junk food–1), junk food is unhealthy and has been shown to increase diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease; 2), the consumption of junk and/or fast food is the leading cause for a striking increase in obesity in Americans, particularly in school-aged children; 3), the junk food/fast food industry has failed to self-regulate itself and is currently doing everything possible to sidestep the guidelines set up by the U.S. federal government; and 4), the regulation or control of junk food would help to extend the lifespans of all Americans.

First of all, the consumption of junk food/fast food, such as hamburgers, French fries, carbonated soft drinks, and dessert items, negatively affect a person’s overall physical health. Taken as a whole, junk food is high in calories and fat content and when combined with other foods that are made at home on a daily basis as meals, the amount of calories and fat increases substantially. Of course, for a young person or teenager, vigorous physical activity helps to burn off excess calories and accumulated fat; however, for an older person who generally lives a sedentary lifestyle, being the proverbial “couch potato,” the consumption of calories and fat from junk food is not burned off and accumulates in the body which over a period of time can lead to various physical illnesses like hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, and heart disease. Also, these types of diseases tend to decrease a person’s lifespan which negatively affects society and helps to increase insurance rates for hospitalization.

Secondly, one of the most negative health-related aspects concerning the consumption of junk food/fast food is obesity or excessive weight gain. On top of having high concentrations of calories and fat (especially saturated fats and “bad” cholesterol), junk food contains artificial chemical additives like MSG (monosodium glutamate) which has been shown to disrupt hormone levels in the human body that are responsible for controlling metabolism (Cummins, 2012). Just last year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimated that 60% of Americans are either overweight or obese because of their consumption of junk food/fast food, often on a daily basis. In addition, it has been estimated that every third child born in the United States as of 2000 will develop some form of diabetes during either their formative years or in early adulthood, all because of the consumption of junk food (Cummins, 2012). Not surprisingly, as America’s number one public health issue, obesity has been shown to substantially increase health care costs by adding an estimated $150 billion annually to the price of hospitalization and medical treatment for a disease that can controlled simply by reducing caloric and fat intake (Cummins, 2012).

Thirdly, the current junk food/fast food industry which includes the producers of pre-packaged food items and fast food restaurants like McDonald’s and Burger King, have so far managed to skirt in-place voluntary food regulations and guidelines initiated by the U.S. federal government and various governmental and private agencies. As noted by Megan Orciari of Yale University, there are numerous loopholes related to industry self-regulation that allow junk food/fast food companies to advertise their unhealthy products on children’s television shows and programs (2013). As a matter of fact, the U.S. Institute of Medicine and the World Health Organization (WHO) have made it known to junk food/fast food companies that their products are the main cause of childhood obesity (Orciari, 2013).

In response to this obesity crisis, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) initiated a program known as the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) with the main goal being to inspire junk food/fast food companies to advertise healthier food products on children’s TV programs (Orciari, 2013). However, due to the lack of federal government regulations, these companies have failed to adhere to the guidelines of the CFBAI, mainly because doing so would reduce their profits associated with the retail selling of junk food/fast food products, especially those aimed at young children, such as candy, soft drinks, and bakery items that are loaded with sugar and fat.

Lastly, if the U.S. federal government and its various agencies and departments made the regulation of junk food/fast food mandatory, it would help to extend the lifespans of all Americans, simply by lowering the amounts of sugar and fat in junk food products and by educating American consumers (particularly the parents of young children) on the health hazards related to consuming unhealthy food products via an extensive advertising campaign. From a nutritional standpoint, the findings of the Pew Research Center in relation to the percent of daily nutrition from consuming fast food products reveals that 37% of calories, 42% of carbohydrates, 33% of fat, and 15% of protein results from eating just one fast food meal. When combined with the number of Americans that dine at a fast food restaurant on a daily basis (50 million), it is obvious that a good percentage of Americans are at risk of living a shorter lifespan (Fast Food Statistics, 2013).

In summation, the regulation of junk food/fast food products by the U.S. federal government would lower the incidence of certain diseases and illnesses and decrease the number of Americans who are currently overweight or obese. Regulation would also force the junk food/fast food industry to drastically decrease advertisements aimed at children and help to extend the lifespans of many Americans. Certainly, if U.S. federal government regulations are not put into place in the near future, the number of Americans that suffer from obesity and other physical disorders related to consuming junk food/fast food will increase until the health care system in the United States is overwhelmed with people seeking medical assistance for a condition that in effect is self-imposed. However, legally forcing junk food/fast food companies to adjust the contents of their products will negatively affect their profits and in the long run could impact the number of jobs in companies that manufacture and sell junk food/fast food products.

References

Cummins, R. (2012). America’s obesity and diabetic epidemic: Junk food kills. Retrieved from http://www.naturalnews.com/035164_obesity_diabetes_junk_food.html

Fast food statistics. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.statisticbrain.com/fast-food-statistics

Larsen, J. (2012). Junk food. Retrieved from http://www.dietitian.com/junkfood.html#.Ufajdqx4kY4

Orciari, M. (2013). Industry self-regulation permits junk foods ads in programming popular with children. Retrieved from http://news.yale.edu/2013/03/12/industry-self-regulation-permits-junk-food-ads-programming-popular-children