The Relationship Between Obesity and Fast Food Consumption

The rates of morbid obesity have continued to rise and has become a national epidemic in recent years. The consumption of fast food is a major factor in poor health in general and obesity in specific. Substantial research has been conducted in order to prove a correlation between fast food consumption and obesity. Advertising and marketing strategies use a variety of methods to target young people and develop a habit of fast food consumption at a young age.

This research paper will explore the correlation between fast food consumption and obesity to determine validity and assess the relevance of arguments both for and against this correlation. The research aims to prove that readily available information on the negative effects of fast food can lower fast food consumption and in turn lower obesity levels.

Literature Review

Extensive literature exists on the correlation between fast food consumption and obesity, and this relationship is fairly well established. A more detailed search of the literature uncovers interesting information on fast food marketing campaigns and lifestyle outside of fast food consumption.

Obesity is defined as having a weight over the 95th percentile of others in the same age group, while those in the category between the 85th and 95th percentiles are considered overweight. While the problem of obesity in the United States is growing regardless of age, childhood obesity in particular has risen significantly. Schwartz and Puhl (2003) found that obesity in 6-17 year old children was at 11% of the population and that an additional 14% of children were overweight. These numbers are up from a total of 4.5% overweight and obese children in 1970. Unhealthy eating habits during childhood are a primary cause of obesity both in childhood and later in life. Poor nutrition interferes with growth and development and also sets the stage for poor eating habits in adolescence and adulthood (Taylor, Evers, & McKenna, 2005). Frequent consumption of fast food products has been proven to significantly impact health, not only because of the lack of nutritional value and prevalence of trans-fats and saturated fats in many of these foods, but also because people who eat fast food often are likely to have poor diet and lifestyle outside of the fast food consumption (Poti, Duffey, & Popkin, 2013). Essentially, you are what you eat. In a study of obese people who were anticipating bariatric surgery to help with weight loss, most patients reported consuming 30% or more fast food in their diets (Garcia, Sunil, & Hinojosa, 2012). While this data is collected from a specific population, the findings are easily generalized to other obese and overweight people who are not undergoing surgery as a weight loss measure.

Obesity has a number of deleterious effects. In addition to increasing health risks such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, asthma, and chronic inflammation (Reilly et al., 2003), obesity has serious emotional and social consequences. Children who are overweight or obese are often teased, harassed, and bullied by peers, and are often rejected or ignored in social circles. This negatively impacts self-esteem and can lead to other emotional and mental health problems such as depression, suicidality, substance abuse, and acting out towards others (Schwartz & Puhl, 2003). Obese adults face the same health risks as children, and while outright teasing and bullying is less common, adults still face discrimination and socioeconomic problems. Obese adults often have trouble with work based on workplace discrimination or inability to work due to health. For a variety of reasons, there is a significant correlation between obesity and socioeconomic status, particularly in white male and black female populations (Wang & Zhang, 2006).

A combination of factors lead to obesity. A portion of this problem is genetic. Reilly et al. (2005) discovered strong evidence for obesity having a genetic component. They found that children who had significant weight gain in the first year of age were more likely than others to struggle with lifelong obesity. They also correlated parental obesity to child obesity. This second item is likely both genetic and environmental in nature. Parents who exhibit poor eating and lifestyle habits are likely to model these to their children. In an episode of the television series The Human Condition, Anderson et al. (2001) explore food as a reward system. They found that some parents reward or bribe their children with fast food, making fast food consumption a motivational factor throughout life. When a child develops a relationship with fast food as a reward, he or she is likely to consume this food more often, especially in times of celebration or emotional stress.

Lifestyle factors also significantly contribute to obesity. Children and adults who are highly inactive are more likely to be obese. Reilly et al. (2005) found that those who watched eight or more hours of television daily were much more likely to be obese than those who did not watch as much television. Individuals with a more active lifestyle are much more likely to counteract the negative effects of fast food when they do consume it.

Education and Prevention

As mentioned in the literature review, diet outside of fast food often has just as many if not more negative effects on health than fast food. In order to improve the general population’s lifestyle, it is important to have adequate and available information and education regarding healthy diet and lifestyle (Poti et al., 2013). In order to counteract health risks, proactive education and lifestyle changes are more effective than retroactive treatment of health and weight problems (O’Dea, 2005).

People form lifestyle including diet and exercise from a variety of measures. Taylor et al. (2005) determined both individual and collective factors in creation of a healthy or unhealthy lifestyle. Individual factors include food preferences and knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs on diet and exercise. Collective factors include family and peer lifestyle and diet, availability of foods in grocery stores and local restaurants, and advertising. Television advertising in particular has been shown to have a large impact on diet and lifestyle (Taylor et al., 2005). Because of the great influence of advertising and fast food marketing in particular, families and communities must take proactive measures to provide education on the deleterious effects of fast food as well as alternative options in order to improve childhood diet and lower percentages of obesity in both childhood and adulthood.

It is more effective for parents to model healthy eating to their children and limit unhealthy foods in the house rather than letting children eat whatever they want. In an attempt to encourage positive behavior, parents sometimes reward their children with fast food, candy, or dessert products. While this may increase the behavior, it also creates an association between performance and unhealthy food for the child. Instead of rewarding children with food, parents can reward the positive behavior with a new toy or game or a fun activity with both child and parent.

Parents generally have more knowledge about healthy diet than children. Educating parents on how to teach their children proper nutrition is an effective way to transfer dietary knowledge. Children have difficulty self-regulating their food intake, therefore parents and school systems should limit access to unhealthy foods and provide nutritious meal and snack options (Schwartz & Puhl, 2003). As fast food consumption is not the only factor in obesity, other healthy lifestyle behaviors and activities also need to be modeled to children (Fast Food Not the Major Cause, 2014). Children should be encouraged to exercise through sports or active play. Additionally, stress in home and school life can contribute to childhood obesity, thus children should be taught skills to manage stress. If significant stress exists in the home or school life of children, actions should be taken to eliminate the source of stress.

Active Citizenship

According to the philosophies of active citizenship, organizations have obligations to the health and well-being of the society in which they operate. In an effort to benefit the health of the community, new regulations in Southern Los Angeles have banned new fast food restaurants from opening in an attempt to limit fast food consumption (Hirsch, 2009). However, studies have shown that limiting choices of unhealthy snack foods and soft drinks and providing nutrition information on available foods helps to curb obesity more effectively than eliminating fast food restaurants. Visible nutrition information helps people to make informed decisions on food consumption (Hirsch, 2009), whereas eliminating the fast food restaurants does not necessarily improve diet in other areas of people’s food consumption. Some people have gone so far as to sue fast food restaurants for contributing to the obesity epidemic. Mello, Rimm, and Studdert (2003) describe a number of lawsuits in which individuals attempt to hold fast food companies responsible and financially liable for the production, sales, and health consequences of the products they sell to customers. These lawsuits prove that the public believes that fast food restaurants have a moral and ethical responsibility to maintaining the well-being of their communities.

Responsible marketing is a key component of active citizenship, however many fast food restaurants target children in an attempt to form habit and addiction to fast food early in life. Children become highly impressionable at around two years of age. Schwartz (2003) found that societal messages about infant nutrition focus on proper foods for growth and development, but over the age of two, children become targets for fast food marketing. “Children are exposed to 10,000 advertisements for food per year, 95% of which are for fast foods, candy, sugared cereal, and soft drinks” (Schwartz, 2003, p. 58). Schwartz also lists a number of other ways in which children are the targets of merchandising including putting sugared cereals at children’s eye level from a grocery cart, associating candy and treats with holidays and birthdays, and including toys in fast food children’s meals.

Conclusion

Identifying the cause of the national obesity problem is far easier than determining the best solution. From forming healthy dietary and exercise habits early in life to decreasing the amount of fast food in the United States culture, many changes must be implemented in order to effectively counteract excessive weight gain. One of the highest impact solutions is for corporate executives to re-think their marketing strategies for fast food products. If advertising campaigns take responsibility for the deleterious effects of fast food consumption and act accordingly as has been done with providing ingredient and nutrition information, general awareness about the correlations between fast food and health risks such as obesity and cardiovascular disease can be greatly increased. However, it is ultimately the responsibility of the individual to understand what is in the foods he or she eats and the possible effects of consuming unhealthy foods. This education begins in childhood as parents and school systems have the opportunity to teach children about proper nutrition as well as how to critically assess advertising campaigns.

References

Anderson, N., Bryant, M., Cooper, D., Faxon, D., Ikeda, J., Korsch, B.. (2001). 110 (4) [Television series episode]. In The Human Condition: The Growing Years. Pasadena, CA: INTELECOM Intelligent Telecommunications.

Fast Food Not the Major Cause of Rising Childhood Obesity Rates, Study Finds. (2014, January 15). ScienceDaily. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201

Garcia, G., Sunil, T., & Hinojosa, P. (2012). The fast food and obesity link: Consumption patterns and severity of obesity. Obesity Surgery, 22(5), 810-818.

Hirsch, J. (2009, October 6). Fast food ban is no cure. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-oct-06-fi-fastfood6-story.html

Mello, M. M., Rimm, E. B., & Studdert, D. M. (2003). The McLawsuit: The fast-food industry and legal accountability for obesity. Health Affairs, 22(6), 207-216.

O'Dea, J. A. (2005). Prevention of child obesity: ‘First, do no harm’. Health Education Research, 20(2), 259-265.

Poti, J, Duffey, K, & Popkin, B. (2013). The association of fast food consumption with poor dietary outcomes and obesity among children: Is it the fast food or the remainder of the diet? American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 99(1), 162.

Reilly, J. J., Armstrong, J., Dorosty, A. R., Emmett, P. M., Ness, A., Rogers, I., ... & Sherriff, A. (2005). Early life risk factors for obesity in childhood: Cohort study. British Medical Journal, 330(7504), 1357.

Reilly, J. J., Methven, E., McDowell, Z. C., Hacking, B., Alexander, D., Stewart, L., & Kelnar, C. J. (2003). Health consequences of obesity. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 88(9), 748-752.

Schwartz, M. B., & Puhl, R. (2003). Childhood obesity: A societal problem to solve. Obesity Reviews, 4(1), 57-71.

Taylor, J. P., Evers, S., & McKenna, M. (2005). Determinants of healthy eating in children and youth. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 96.

Wang, Y., & Zhang, Q. (2006). Are American children and adolescents of low socioeconomic status at increased risk of obesity? Changes in the association between overweight and family income between 1971 and 2002. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 84(4), 707-716.