Who Is To Blame?: Parents, Fast Food Companies, and their Impact on the Obesity Epidemic

Although the obesity epidemic still remains a huge issue all across the United States, the sale of fast food has continued to sky-rocket during the 21st century. As a result, the average intake of fast food by children and adolescents in the US has risen nearly 8% since the popularity of fast food restaurants initially emerged during the mid-1970s. Yet health officials in the United States are still uncertain who should be blamed for the obesity epidemic in this country. One of the most common targets are parents, who have been seen as one of the main perpetrators of America’s growing child obesity problem. It is argued that the poor eating habits of many adults is promoted and reflected by their children which, according to an article by Kellie R. Lang, has even been classified as a form of child abuse. A more thorough analysis of facts and statistics though would reveal that perhaps the influence of American fast food chains may have an equal if not greater negative effect on the child obesity epidemic.

It is no surprise that the proliferation of fast food as a popular eating destination in the United States has resulted in an increase in overall calorie intake. According to “Fast-Food Consumption and the Ban on Advertising Targeting Children: The Quebec Experience”, Canada’s 11- to 18-year-olds have been ingesting an extra 800 calories per week (for males). As a result, “These extra calories translate into a possible weight gain of 10 pounds or more per year” (Dhar and Baylis 799). These results lead to the conclusion that the popularity of fast food such as McDonalds and Burger King have partly driven these statistics due to their greater caloric consumption per meal. It is also clear from this article that the popularity of fast food amongst people of all ages is due in part to the prevalence of fast food advertising targeted particularly towards children.

The study in this article focuses on how the exorbitant amount of fast food advertising targeted towards adolescents plays a major role in children’s fast food consumption. In turn, this added consumption of fast food could also be one of the primary factors that lead to child obesity. Tirtha Dhar and Kathy Baylis discovered in the course of their findings that fast food advertising is not only one of the most heavily advertised product categories targeting children, it also accounts for a large percentage of children who end up eating fast food. They concluded that children are 50% more likely to eat fast food after having seen advertising and are therefore more likely to choose eating fast food meals that promotes obesity. The ban on fast food advertising that was analyzed in their study yielded results that provided evidence that “a ban on advertising targeting children can be effective in lowering or moderating consumption” (Dhar and Baylis 811). Although this study is not able to provide finite evidence that lower fast food consumption would drastically lower obesity, there is evidence based on the high caloric content of fast food that confirms the negative impact that fast food and its advertising initiatives have on children.

Another reason why fast food chains may be a leading cause of the child obesity epidemic is the proliferation of fast food restaurants near schools. In an article called “Clustering of Fast-Food Restaurants Around Schools: A Novel Application of Spatial Statistics to the Study of Food Environments”, a study was taken to document the geographical relationship between fast food restaurants and schools in Chicago. This study concluded that “the mean and median distance from any school to the nearest fast-food restaurant were 0.60 and 0.52 km, respectively” (Austin et al. 1576). Although they cannot say for certain whether or not this is a verifiable cause of childhood obesity, the fact that there is always a fast food restaurant in walking distance from any given school serves as undeniable proof that fast food may somehow influence the child obesity epidemic. It is also no surprise that this comes as a result of the recent proliferation of fast food chains in densely populated areas. In high-commercialization areas of the city, this study reports that there are 6 times more fast food restaurants within 1.5 Km of schools than expected. They also found that there is no clustering of fast food restaurants around schools in low-commercialization areas, which leads to the conclusion that these restaurants seem to be strategically place for the convenience of school children. Considering the high caloric content of fast food meals as well as the fact that “the percentage of total energy intake consumed from fast-food and other restaurants has increased from 6.5% in 1977-1978 to 19.3% in 1994-1996” (Austin et al. 1575), the ease of access that children have to fast food certainly makes the fast food industry an obvious suspect in contributing to the obesity epidemic.

In spite of all of the evidence verifying the influence of fast food on child obesity though, parents bear responsibility in aggravating the obesity epidemic. This is due in part to the authority that parents have over the food that they choose to purchase for their children which in turn influences the child’s own food preference. One article even provides evidence why officials should focus more on the impact that parents have on their children’s obesity rather than the influence of fast food advertising. In an article called “Purchase of a Fast Food Cartoon Character Toy Premium Targeted to Young Children”, authors Claire Lambert and Dick Mizerski state that the allure and amount of toys available at many fast food chains “may train young and naïve children into repeatedly requesting or purchasing Fast Food meal items” (90). Although they do not rule out the possibility that children gravitate towards fast food chains because of special cartoon toy premiums, their study concludes that there is no significant trend in individuals of any age who visit fast food restaurants more frequently due to toys targeted towards adolescents. The only people credited as being significantly influenced to visit a fast food restaurant due to its cartoon toy premiums are adults who are interested in the toy’s collectible value. Therefore, they state that the results of their study “suggest that potential Public Policy interventions need to be aimed at the parents and caretakers that largely make the purchase decisions for what children eat” (Lambert and Mizerski 92).

Overall, there is enough evidence to assume that the child obesity epidemic is due in part to the promotion and consumption of high caloric meals that are served at fast food chains. The can be concluded due to statistics that verify how fast food meals promote significant weight gain as well as the fast food industry’s efforts to make their food visibly available to children. Yet that is not to say that there aren’t any other factors feeding the obesity epidemic. Considering the evidence provided in some of the aforementioned articles, many promotional practices that are perceived as a major influence on children’s tendency to consume fast food, such as the sale of cartoon toy premiums, do not have as drastic an effect on children’s fast food consumption. Therefore, it should be assumed that there are many different factors that have to be analyzed in order to help solve the issue of obesity. Many studies provide evidence that fast food may be the leading cause of the obesity epidemic. Yet in order to fully understand the causes of this complex issue, the influence of parents and other variables should also not be ruled out.

Works Cited

Austin, S. B., et al. "Clustering of Fast-Food Restaurants Around Schools: A Novel Application of Spatial Statistics to the Study of Food Environments." American Journal of Public Health, vol. 95, no. 9, 2005, pp. 1575-581.

Dhar, Tirtha, and Kathy Baylis. "Fast Food Consumption and the Ban on Advertising Targeting Children: The Quebec Experience." Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 48, 2011, pp. 799-813.

Lambert, Claire, and Dick Mizerski. "Purchase Of A Fast Food Cartoon Character Toy Premium Targeted To Young Children."