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July 2015 | Read this issue and more at www.healthandwellnessmagazine.net |
A Recipe
for Fat
Increasing
obesity rates
linked to eating
fast food
By Jean Jeffers, Staff Writer
Fast food spells F-A-T.
The emergence of fast food has
paralleled our rising obesity rates.
According to the National Bureau of
Economic Research, over the past 30
years the prevalence of obesity and
obesity-related diseases in the United
States has risen sharply. Exposés such
as the research project “Supersize
Me” has indicated fast food is at least
partially to blame.
Obesity is regarded as a high-priority health problem. It affects close to
36 percent of U.S. adults and is linked
to many long-term health conditions,
such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease,
stroke, gall bladder disease, arthritis
and some cancers.
Some interesting studies discussed
in “Don’t Eat This Book” by Morgan
Spurlock have shown the rise in
obesity among the world population
could date back and be attributed to
increased calorie intake, coupled with
a lack of adequate physical activity.
Some facts and figures from “Don’t
Eat This Book” are sobering:
• In 1970, there were around
70,000 fast food establishments in
the United States. In 2001, there were
186,000.
• In 1968, McDonald’s operated
about 1,000 restaurants in the United
States. In 2005, it had about 31,000
restaurants worldwide; some 14,000
of them were in the United States
– and undoubtedly there are many
more today.
• Formerly, a soda at Burger King
was 12 ounces. That is considered
small today. Now at McDonald’s, a
medium soda is 20 ounces; a large
is 32 ounces; and a supersize is 42
ounces.
• In the late 1970s, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture reported
children in the United States drank
nearly 50 percent more milk than
soft drinks. In 1999, children
consumed twice as much soda
as milk. One fifth of American
kids are now drinking soda at
the age of 1 or 2 years.
In her article
“Obesity
and Fast
Food,”
Dr.
Like us
@healthykentucky
Ananya Mandel says studies show
over the past four decades consumption of food eaten away from home
has risen to alarming levels. It is a
fact that eating away from home may
lead to “excess calorie intake and
increases the risk of obesity because
of large portion sizes and
increased energy-dense
Over the past
30 years the
prevalence of
obesity and
obesity-related
diseases in the
United States has
risen sharply.
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