Fast Food Cause Obesity Essay Sample

Fast food is one of the fastest-growing industries today in America. From the 1970s to the early 2000s Americans have gone from spending 6 billion to 110 billion dollars on fast-food each year. Americans are believed to spend half of their food money at restaurants and fast food (Fast Food Nation). Fast-food chains have been built on the idea of conformity. That is why restaurants like McDonald’s and Taco Bell have the same menu, regardless of location or management. The majority of common fast-food restaurants tend to use the same food products, ingredients, menus, and pricing. While fast food can be seen as an efficient and cheap way to access food, it has completely changed how industries run and pay their employees. For example, “ It took place during a period when the inflation-adjusted value of the minimum wage declined by about 40 percent, when sophisticated mass marketing techniques were for the first time directed at small children, and when federal agencies created to protect workers and consumers too often behaved like branch offices of the companies that were supposed to be regulated” (Fast Food Nation p 13). The growth of fast food did create agencies to protect workers, however, it also led to a decrease in wages. Fast food has and will continue to grow, industrialize, and create jobs. 

Depending on location, race, income level, and gender, some people are more likely to eat fast food than others. There have been many studies on how fast food affects different groups of people. For example, “A higher percentage of non-Hispanic black adults consumed fast food than non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic Asian, and Hispanic adults ” and “A higher percentage of non-Hispanic white adults consumed fast food compared with non-Hispanic Asian adults” (Products). This discovery led to a study to find why non-Hispanic black adults were consuming more fast food than non-Hispanic white or non-Hispanic Asian adults. The study confirmed that people living in predominantly black neighborhoods have more access to fast food (James). Many people believe that those in poverty tend to buy fast food more frequently. Despite that popular belief, studies show that people in poverty are less likely to purchase fast food than people with an above-average income (James). The final finding that this study revealed was that the age group who ate the most fast food were 20-39 years and continually decreased with age. This study confirms how the consumption of fast food can vary depending on age, neighborhoods, race, income, and gender.

Fast food is one of the most significant factors in the obesity problems in America today. As the fast food industry has grown the past fifty years, the need for dehydrated and frozen foods has increased exponentially. This then creates a need for cheap processed foods that can be reheated and prepared quickly and efficiently. That is how the name “fast food” has emerged and become such a big part of American culture.