Family Issues of Obesity (McDonald’s) Essay

Family Issues of Obesity (McDonald’s) Essay

There are really a lot of debates, devoted to the issues of fast food, its impact upon human health and development of obesity problems. A lot of people adore fast food, prefer to take their children there and are absolutely satisfied with the quality of the food, they eat at McDonalds for example. Other people avoid eating fast foods, as they are convinced that they are the main reasons of obesity. They state that fast food companies work out their advertisements in such a way that consumers believe that they are eating healthy food, and in reality suffer from obesity afterwards. In fact it is difficult to support this argument, as taking into consideration absolutely free and unlimited access to information nowadays, any individual is free to study the facts about fast food, he is interested in, and make his own conclusions about it.Family Issues of Obesity (McDonald’s) Essay

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The main danger, which is seen in fast food restaurants for young people, is the assumption that this kind of food is addicting, sometimes it is even compared to cigarettes. Of course people tend to get used to eating something tasty and it is not always useful for their organism. However, they might get addicted to anything, it is not that only fast food causes such addictions. Depending on various factors, often upon the initial upbringing inside the family, as well as the usually accepted rituals in a concrete family, children tend to develop their interests and addictions from their early years and in most cases, it is rather difficult to break them in the future, when they are getting older. Thus if parents are addicted to sports, running, swimming pool, tourism and so on, they would involve their children and pass them their addiction. In the same way, if parents are constantly sitting in front of TVs or computers, it is not logical to expect that their children would behave differently. And it is not difficult to guess here, children of which family would most luckily suffer from obesity, irrespective of the fact, whether they eat food at McDonalds or they don’t.Family Issues of Obesity (McDonald’s) Essay
Sometimes quick availability of fast food is also seen as one of the reasons for people getting used to eating it and then facing the problems with obesity. This argument is also hardly strong, as it seems that human beings are not able to make their own rational choices, rather go only those directions, which they are told to or which are the easiest ones. If an individual is hungry – he is free to eat, what he wants, and it doesn’t mean that the only way out he has, is buying something at McDonalds. It is normal, when mind of an individual controls his actions and choices and not his body or his stomach.

Overall, pushing the complete responsibility for the general growth of obesity rates to fast food companies, such as McDonalds, looks more like finding a scapegoat, instead of taking care of real solution of the problem. It is necessary to admit that there is such problem, that there are really a lot of young people or even children, who suffer from it, but it is not correct to make simple and quick conclusions about the main reasons of this problem, otherwise, it would never be solved. Fast food, as anything else, should not be present in surplus, because even if a child eats too much of fruit, he might also experience problems with his health, thus first of all it is necessary to consider family habits and rituals, as all of them have direct and strong impact upon future habits of the children from these families.Family Issues of Obesity (McDonald’s) Essay

The American family has certainly transformed over the past 20 years. Whether someone lives with two parents or one parent they are probably working full time jobs to provide for the family. In addition to their outside jobs they have the responsibility of raising the children, helping with homework, cleaning the house, and provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Due to the events of the day, temptation wins and the family gorges on Big Macs, french fries, and a sugary soft drink. Great, the family is fed, but what are the long term affects of the fast food when ingested several times a month. Planning nutritious meals in advance would promote a healthier lifestyle for the American family. Many Americans are defined as obese. Perhaps the convenient Big Mac contributes to Americans over weight population. The most convenient and easiest food may not be the best or healthiest choice for a person’s body. McDonald’s has become a regular “dinner out” for young children and may possibly have lasting negative affects during their adulthood.
McDonald’s has been around for a lengthy time and had smaller portions years ago. Now a meal can be super sized for an extra dollar or less. Hence sizes are increasing with a minimal charge, making it affordable for the working class. McDonald’s are located all over the world and are easily accessible throughout the city. Hunger can be quickly satisfied by locating the nearest McDonalds. Do not worry about leaving the car because a drive-thru adds to the convenience of satisfying that hunger. Being a multi-million dollar corporation McDonald’s spends many advertising dollars to demonstrate the ease and popularity of feeding a family.Family Issues of Obesity (McDonald’s) Essay

Who is to Blame for Child Obesity
As the obesity rate in America is increasing, people are pointing fingers at the fast-food industry. Teenagers, with the help of their parents, have filed lawsuits blaming fast-food restaurants like McDonald’s for their own health problems. A public health group in California has asked the governor to declare childhood obesity a state of emergency. However, parents– not the fast-food companies- are to blame for the amount of overweight children that are present today. They are the ones who teach their children eating and exercising habits, they are the ones who let their young consume unhealthy foods, they are the ones who allow their children to watch television and play on the computer for hours on end; obviously, it is the parents fault for obesity in youth.

Parents play a huge role in their child’s lifestyle. They are the people in the household who, most of the time, buy groceries and cook or bring home dinner for the rest of their family. It is the parents’ decision whether to buy healthy foods or not. What they chose to feed their children while they are young teaches them what they should eat later in life. Therefore, if a parent is constantly bringing home McDonald’s, that is what their kids will want when they grow up. Parents also have an influence on their children’s exercising habits. For example, if a parent rarely encourages their child to go outside and play, they will believe that sitting inside all day is the right thing to do. Those kids will be lazy for the rest of their lives.Family Issues of Obesity (McDonald’s) Essay

A parent may believe that he or she is bringing home healthy food for their children, but sometimes the least healthy foods do the most marketing. For example, cereal is a breakfast food believed to be very healthy. “The packages scream nutrition messages at you: “‘Good source of vitamin D!’ ‘High in fiber.’ ‘Antioxidants.’” (Warner). Processing cereal is damaging to the vitamins and fiber that exist in the grains used to make it. Almost all of them are destroyed throughout the process. In the end, manufacturers add fiber ingredients and the equivalent of a multivitamin. Other foods advertised to be healthy but actually are not include Subway sandwiches, light yogurt, protein bars, reduced fat peanut butter, Vitaminwater, and gluten-free snacks and baked goods.

Most of the time a parent doesn’t even have a clue what their child has been eating. For instance, a woman by the name of Deborah Richards was unaware that her son, Donta’s, daily breakfast was a pack of Skittles. Richards exclaimed that she “tries to teach him better”. Clearly, parents need to watch what their children consume more carefully. Very often, parents do not even know what their kids are eating.

To illustrate, I was dining at a local McDonald’s when I heard the horrific sound of a screeching toddler. I walked over to refill my drink, for that is where the noise seemed to be coming from, to observe. The child short and rather plump child appeared as if he were about five years old. He was accompanied by his mother, probably in her early thirties. The young boy was begging at his mother to let him order and extra side of fries, but she was refusing. The tantrum continued. The mother of the boy was really standing her ground– up until the kid had a meltdown. The mom had finally caved in. This is where the problem begins. Parents let their kids eat unhealthy foods. In this case, a parent allowed their kid get what they wanted just because he whined for it . Parents believe its just to “make them happy.” In others, parents may just be lazy. Perhaps the kid was better off crying, because the fries do not help him in the long run. So, they will help him quit his whining for now, but after a while, all of the extra fries that this child begs for will add up. McDonald’s fries are loaded with carbohydrates, even after the restaurant made their switch to vegetable oil. In fact, each serving of fries contain about 48 grams of carbohydrates and 380 calories. One is only supposed to consume about 2000 calories per day, that is about 19 percent of one’s calorie intake, and a little much for this little boy- considering it was and extra side.Family Issues of Obesity (McDonald’s) Essay

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Currently, children are surrounded by technology. At home, at school, even in the back pocket of their pants. There are numerous kid shows on TV and games on computers that it is nearly impossible for a child to get bored. A child would sit there all day if they were allowed- and some are. Many parents allow their kids to sit in front of these screens for hours a day. Some may say that it is almost like a “technological babysitter.” It is extremely unhealthy for children to be glued to a chair all day, watching television and playing games. In contrast, running burns 163 calories, walking burns 53 calories, and riding a bike burns up to 168 calories. Not only is the fact that they have no exercise horrible, but they will watch all of the commercials for fast-food restaurants or processed foods. McDonald’s, Burger King, and even cereal companies; they all try to manipulate people into purchasing their products by unfair marketing to children. There are even McDonald’s video games now. Unfortunately, most kids fall into the trap set by these companies. The longer the child is using technology, the more likely he or she will be exposed to this fast-food frenzy.Family Issues of Obesity (McDonald’s) Essay

On the other hand, others may say that it is portion distortion that is making America fat. One would expect that two sides of fries is two servings, but that is not the case. The majority of packaged, processed, and fast foods all have more than one serving per container. However, all of the nutrition facts have information about only one serving of food, so that is what people think they are eating. If parents would only pay more attention to labels on foods, there would be no issue. The parents are the ones who decide to read or not to read the nutrition label and still consume the food and distribute it to the rest of their family. Clearly, it is the fault of the parents for choosing to eat unhealthy foods and feeding them to their children, regardless if they read the label.

The responsibility of obesity in children belongs to the parents. It is their fault that their kids have terrible eating and exercising habits, eat unhealthy foods, and watch TV or play video games on the computer for hours. Parents need to get their act together before the corrupt all of America’s ideas of living a healthy lifestyle. After all, the habits of most adults reflect on what their parents modeled for them in their younger years. Family Issues of Obesity (McDonald’s) Essay

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