There are millions of people who easily get addicted to bad
substance, such as drugs alcohol and even junk food. For some people consuming
these bad substances sometimes makes them feel better. Junk food is one of the
easiest thing to get addicted to because it saves people time from cooking and
it is also affordable. Fast food restaurants like McDonalds, Burger King and
Wendy’s are amongst fast food chains that makes most money selling their product due to their price and of
course their drive thru services which makes it a whole lot more easier for
customers to get a hold of. This is not necessary a good thing as this can
cause unnecessary deaths and diseases. Healthy takeaways such as subway pita
pit and habitual fix should have services like fast food restaurants.
Most junk food contains a huge amount of saturated fat and sodium. One junk food example that is the worse among all is butter chicken. This is because butter chicken contains cream which is saturated fat. They could use low fat cream but that would not taste the same. One of the manager from an Indian takeaway shop said that customers had a huge variety of food to choose from but 80% of them went for the butter chicken. Food like pizza, burgers and fried chicken contains sodium. High blood pressure is caused by sodium which is in half the meals. Cardiovascular disease is linked to high blood pressure. A study in 2010 in the journal nature neuroscience said that junk food can be as addictive as cocaine or nicotine.this addiction could lead to obesity. this particular study was tested on lab rats. they would stuff the rats with junk food and not long after that the rats would develop symptoms of addiction. if rats could develop this disease imagine how fast humans can
One of the
main reasons why junk food can be addictive is that people THINK that feeding a
family of 4 with McDonalds is cheaper than cooking them a healthy meal. For an
example two MCchicken two Big Mac four sides of fries and four soft drinks
would come up to $40 where else a simple roast chicken and vegetables would
come up to $25. A meal like this could even feed a family of 6. Saying that
nowadays most fast food restaurants contain value meals which are from $2
making it easier for customers to get a hold of especially with people who have
half an hour lunch breaks. For an example the famous chicken mc cheese
currently selling for $2 at McDonalds. Sometimes people don’t think about how
healthy food can also cost under $2. Healthy food like raw nuts, apples,
berries and broccoli could subsidise food like the chicken McCheese which
contains 20g of fat. Trying to save a few dollars on junk food can incur
more money in the long run when your medical bills arrive.
Junk food is
no doubt the first option when children have to choose between fast food and
healthy food. Schools nowadays are trying to serve healthier food to children
but it is a little difficult when the dairy around the corner sells a can of
coke and pie for $2. Last year the secondary principals association of New Zealand(SPANZ) said that they need help to restrict on what the dairies around schools
can sell during certain hours. They also said that they need help from the
government and parents. If this situation is not addressed soon in about 20years there could be a huge percentage of obesity among people and not to
mention other diseases like heart attacks, high blood pressure and diabetes
that comes along with it. Another big item that attracts children to fast food
restaurants are the toys that comes with children’s meals, for an example the
happy meal at McDonald’s. That is very smart thinking as they are aware that
focussing on the younger generation will bring in more customers like the children’s
parents and not to mention the playground they have built in most of the
McDonald’s franchises. Obesity among children can cause lack of self esteem due to constant teasing about their weight. Their weight can also cause them not to take part in physical activities therefore this can cause health issues.Bad behavior is also caused by highly processed food.In 2006 New Zealand healthy survey found that one in 12 children ages 2-14 are obese. Parents need to start paying more attention to what their kids consume on a daily basis as it can be too late.
In conclusion
junk food does cause more harm than good. Having junk food once in a while is
fine but too much of it can cause serious damage with your health. Some people
find it hard to draw a line when it comes to eating junk food but they should
also consider their future. Addiction is no doubt a difficult task to break
that is why the ministry of health should take some kind of action, not to ban
fast food but to make it difficult for people to get a hold of. It will definitely
make it easier for people to break this bad habit.
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http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/10/14/is-junk-food-really-cheaper.aspx
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/is-junk-food-really-cheaper.html?pagewanted=all
Marvin.(2011). 6 Reasons why children love to buy junk food. Retrieved May 10.2012 from
http://www.foodrecap.net/health/child-junk-food/
Ministry Of Health.(2011) .Obesity Key Facts And Statistics. Retrieved May 10,2012 from
http://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/obesity/obesity-key-facts-and-statistics
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Retrieved May 10,2012 from
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http://topnews.net.nz/content/
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http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10795885
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-347122/Junk-food-diet-makes-children-badly-behaved.html
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http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/food/fastfood.html
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