The Complexity of Fast Food, Essay Example

Abstract

In the contemporary world like never before the trend of human self-destruction and the lack of attention to wellbeing is becoming evident in various aspects of human life. Under the conditions of globalization and internationalization human life becomes more and more dynamic and very little time is left for such conventional things as food preparation. Consequently, people tend to consume various types of fast food without paying attention to its harmful effects. The aim of this essay is to demonstrate the harmful impact of fast food on human health. Therefore, the central thesis of this paper is that fast food damages human health. Moreover, fast food has long-term and systematic negative implications for ones’ wellbeing and life longevity.

Key terms: fast food, carbohydrates, saturated fats, obesity, advertisement.

The Complexity of Fast Food

In the history of human civilization, humanity has always been preoccupied with various ways of making human life more convenient and long-lasting. In this regard, human health has always been the primary attention of human existence. Only recently in the age of globalization, increased tempo of human life and multi-tasking, convenience is overcoming health considerations. Moreover, even the knowledge of harmfulness of certain cautions and lifestyles is not a valid point to overrule the convenience and a habit of certain actions. The best example of such tendency in the contemporary society is the role of fast food in the deterioration of human health and balanced lifestyle. The aim of this paper is to outline the harmful impact of fast food on human health. Thus, the central thesis is that fast food damages human health substantially with numerous long-term negative implications for wellbeing and balanced living.

Although the topic of the harmful impact of fast foods on human health pops up in media from time to time, in the recent decade the attention and consequent research became more systematic and well-grounded. The primary rationale is that a huge number of children in the USA and in the world are consuming fast food in the chain restaurants:

“Every day, nearly one-third of U.S. children aged 4 to19 eat fast food, which likely packs on about six extra pounds per child per year and increases the risk of obesity, a study of 6,212 youngsters found ” (Holguin, 2004).

The primary concern in this age group is that children and young adults are developing in this age and in order to develop healthily body requires balanced nutrition which fast food cannot provide on its. The requirement of vitamins and balance between carbohydrates, proteins, vegetables and fruits is essential for developing a healthy body (Wilk, 2006). Consequently, children are more vulnerable to the negative effects of the fast food consumption and they become evident in children’s health faster than in adults (Watson, 2008).

The primary implication is that fast food contributes to obesity, and unlike being overweight, obesity means having an excessive amount of body fat which is easily gained through consumption of fast food full of calories and sugars (Wilk, 2006). The problem in this case is that by consuming fast food on regular basis, healthy eating patterns distorted because human body gets used to the satisfaction of hunger through carbohydrates and fats rather than fruits and vegetables (Wilk, 2006). Consequently, the body does not get required amount of vitamins and amino-acids but pure fuel of fats and carbohydrates that often with little physical activity are not fully used by body and turn into stores of fat body that people  (Watson, 2008).

In one of the recent studies on glycogen replacement after a long run and hiking, the findings demonstrated that complex carbohydrates irrespective of their nature were the best source of replenishing glycogen (Schuler, 2015). Irrespective of the single-targeted aim of the research, the findings were used in marketing for demonstrating that fast food should be consumed after gym workouts as the best source of energy, thus the primary research was distorted:

“In one sentence, the writer managed to mischaracterize every aspect of the study. It was specific to long-distance endurance training, not a gym workout. It did not compare amino-acid pills to fast food. And it didn’t include Big Mac, which all by itself has as much protein as the two meals combined, along with about three-quarters of the fat”(Schuler, 2015).

This misinterpretation demonstrates how easily information on fast food can be distorted by the necessities of marketing of multi-billion fast food industry. Irrespective of the fact that after various waves of scandals and lawsuits related to obesity and health deterioration, the global fast food companies seldom outline the shift and long-term implications of consuming their products. McDonald’s most response was placing calories estimation for every meal on paper leaflets placed on each tray and introduction of healthier options on the menu (Wilk, 2006).

Other negative implications of eating fast food stimulate the development of heart disease and type two diabetes. By consuming fast food products at least four times a week increases one’s predisposition to developing heart disease by 80 percent which is related to the increased amount of saturated and transgenic fats that are contained in fast foods (Watson, 2008). These fats are responsible for the high level of cholesterol and clogging of arteries. Moreover, fast food contributes to the distortion of the time of eating which makes the body even more tired and stressed.

The best example of harmful effects of fast food is the experiment conducted by Morgan Spurlock, the creator of the documentary Super Size Me:

“In it, Spurlock eats McDonald’s food for 30 days straight. This extreme experiment sought to document the adverse health effects of the all-to-common practice of over-eating fast food, using himself as a subject. Indeed, Spurlock gained weight, scared his doctors when his liver went south, felt depressed, lost sexual function and more” (Crossfield, 2010).

This case showed that fast food cannot be used as systematic replacement of ordinary, home-cooked food since it is simply not designed to have healthy and balanced nutritive properties. The very process of preparation of fast food is aimed at the quick and fatty satisfaction of hunger and processing as many orders as possible (Wilk, 2006). In this regard, except for salads and fruits, the nature of fast food has nothing to do with healthy and balanced nutrition. Moreover, it is argued that fast food that is consumed is processed through so many stages that are far from what it initially was.

In this regard, the final product is a reflection of multi-stage processing mechanism in which chemicals are the primary source of the familiar taste of fast food and its effect on customers (Schlosser, 2001). It is often surprising how it is possible for McDonald’s food to smell distinctively and differently from Burger King. The answer is very simple the chemicals used to process all of the McDonald’s food are different from the Burger King (Watson, 2008). Moreover, while people often think that they eat exactly what is described in the name of the product, in the case of the fast food, the situation is quite the opposite. The best example is chicken McNuggets that contain no chicken meat at all, but rather soya and various chemicals imitating chicken flavor and distinctive aroma (Schlosser, 2001).

Taking everything outlined above the primary question regarding fast food is that since people know how harmful fast food is why do they continue consuming it and allowing their children eat it as well? The answer would be very simple for the contemporary trend in consumer society we all live in – it is fashionable, and it is convenient (Wilk, 2006). In this regard various marketing and branding campaigns are based on combining fashion trends of pop culture, interests of the target groups and the stimulation of upsells of the target product. In this regard, various fast food companies used celebrities in promoting their products and also sponsored various public and global events in order to add to their public profile (Watson, 2008).

For instance, McDonald’s “I’m lovin’ it” campaign was associated with Justin Timberlake. The company is also famous for its sponsorship of such global sports events like FIFA World Cup, National Football League, NBA and Olympics. Among its other celebrity spokespeople were Michael Jordan, Venus Williams, Woody Allen and Destiny’s Child (Watson, 2008). The primary reason why celebrities support is crucial in the fast food industry is because it stimulates people to follow the actions that their idols do. This is particularly effective in the case of children and teenagers who follow fashionable trends rather than use common sense (Watson, 2008). One of the examples is British international football player Gary Lineker, who was endorsing the advertisement of Walker’s Crisps since 1995:

“A study by the University of Liverpool has found that celebrity endorsement of a food product encourages children to eat more of the endorsed product. It also found that children were prompted to eat more of the endorsed product when they saw the celebrity on TV in a different context. Celebrity endorsement is an effective method of creating value, recognition and credibility for a brand, and celebrities are frequently used in television advertising to induce children to try foods” (Boyland, 2013).

Thus, the use of celebrities in the fast food industry targets the most vulnerable categories of consumers and has the manipulative nature. On the other hand, from the perspective of celebrities, the endorsement of fast food is viewed as a job rather than a personal choice of a healthy diet or food preferences. The best example would be the use of British athletes in Subway advertising campaign “Train hard. Eat fresh” (Boyland, 2013). Although athletes took part in the campaign, their dietary preferences are far more balanced than Subway sandwiches no matter how fresh they might be.

From the described among discourse, it can be argued that the prevailing dominance of the fast food  culture in the contemporary society is conditioned by fast tempo of human life in the globalized world and the necessity to accommodate convenience into a hectic lifestyle. On the other hand, dominance is also stimulated by multi-million advertising campaigns that target the most vulnerable categories of consumers – children and teenagers who follow pop-culture trends more than adults. The findings demonstrate that unlike before when fast food was associated with poor life conditions and less advantageous urban districts, nowadays eighty percent of youth that consume fast food are from middle and upper classes (Watson, 2008). Their motivation for eating fast food is not the matter of money concern but rather the following of a fashionable trend and pop-culture.

The primary problem of fast food for the contemporary society is generational rather than simply the matter of eating disorders. The aforementioned long-term implications for one’s health create the issue of the health of the entire population and the future generations to come. In this regard, while the immediate implications deteriorate human wellbeing, from the global perspective, excessive fast food consumption would result in the increase of death rate and deteriorate overall life expectancy (Wilk, 2006). Moreover, the unhealthy population creates a greater burden on the system of welfare and healthcare, making human medical treatment even more expensive and less affordable to many (Watson, 2008).

Overall, it can be concluded that fast food issue cannot be taken lightly. It has tremendous negative implications for one’s health and its constant consumption results in failure of the most important body systems. Irrespective of celebrities advertising fast food, they themselves seldom consume it themselves. While adults can make rational decisions, children are the ones who require the safeguard from fast food advertisements and pop-culture influence.

References

Boyland, E. (2013). Celebrities endorsement encourages children to eat junk food. Retrieved https://news.liv.ac.uk/2013/03/08/celebrity-endorsement-encourages-children-to-eat-junk-food/.

Crossfield, P. (2010). After Super Size Me: In conversation with Morgan Spurlock. Retrieved from http://civileats.com/2010/11/16/after-super-size-me-in-conversation-with-morgan-spurlock/.

Holguin, J. (2004). Fast Food Linked To Child Obesity. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fast-food-linked-to-child-obesity/.

Schuler, L. (2015). Why You Shouldn’t Eat a Big Mac after Today’s Workout. Men’s Health. Retrieved from http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/fast-food-workout.

Schlosser E. (2001). Fast food nation: The dark side of all-American meal. New York, NY: Penguin Books.

Watson, S. (2008). Fast Food.  New York, NY: The Rosen Publishing Group.

Wilk, R. (2006). Fast Food/slow Food: The Cultural Economy of the Global Food System. Plymouth, PL: AltaMira Press.