Fast Food and Obesity
Obesity is a national problem, particularly at lower economic levels. We all know that fat is cheap and protein expensive, which gives those of limited means the choice of buying enough nutritionally poor food to satisfy hunger or purchasing insufficient amounts of nutritious food. The problem is exacerbated by the marketing practices of fast food restaurants.
Like any business, a fast food restaurant seeks to get the greatest return on the smallest possible investment. The large chains that operate and franchise these outlets have their systems optimized down to the penny: they minimize fixed costs and operating costs, and they buy the cheapest food that can be made appetizing. That food, unfortunately, can contribute to obesity.
The Nature of Fast Food
Low food cost can be achieved by economy of scale and fast food chains exploit that method. In addition, though, they select inexpensive items such as ground beef, potatoes and chicken. They then cook it in the cheapest, quickest way possible: they fry it. This reliance on high fat offerings means dollars in the restaurant’s pocket. Because fat is higher in calories than many nutrients, it also means pounds on the consumer.
Fast Food in the Diet
There is nothing intrinsically evil about fast food. Eating one bite of a chili dog will not magically transform a fashion model into a sumo wrestler. The problem arises when the high-fat foods that provide most of such stores’ menu options become a major part of someone’s diet.
Most governments have recommended standards for the amount of salt, fat and other nutrients people in different categories can consume on a daily basis while avoiding health consequences such as obesity. These are useful tools, but some authorities recommend using a three-day moving average instead. You triple the stated allowance and adds up everything eaten for three days instead of just one.
The three-day method makes it easy to work fast food into a diet, although it cannot dominate it without health risks. High-fat meals on one day should be balanced with healthier foods on the other two, so that the three-day total never exceeds the recommended levels.
Fast Food Marketing
Anyone who has ever sold anything probably knows about buy-ups. These are additional items offered to customers who have already made a purchase. The stereotypical example of this actually comes from the fast food industry: “Do you want fries with that?” Fast food salespeople are trained to ask that question, as well as to encourage customers to choose a larger size than originally ordered. Some chains also offer inexpensive combo meals consisting of a sandwich, a fried side order and a soda. These offerings can then be “super sized” by adding a larger side and soda. This increases the store’s profits, but it also increases the customer’s fat consumption exponentially and so the danger of obesity.
Fast food restaurants did not cause the obesity epidemic all by themselves. They are as much a symptom of a social problem as a danger in themselves. Limited quantities of fast food can be a part of anyone’s diet as an occasional treat. The danger comes when a high-pressure, low-income lifestyle leads poor people to make such foods the major part of their diets, inevitably leading to obesity in the at-risk population.