Criticism of fast food
These movements seek to promote local cuisines and ingredients, and directly oppose laws and habits that encourage fast food choices.
Fast food often contains significant amounts of mayonnaise, cheese, salt, fried meat, and oil.
[5] In particular, many fast foods are high in saturated fats, which are widely held to be a risk factor in heart disease.
[7] A 2006 study[8] fed monkeys a diet with a similar level of trans fats as that of a person who ate fast food frequently.
[10] The director of the obesity program for the Children's Hospital Boston, David Ludwig, says that "fast food consumption has been shown to increase caloric intake, promote weight gain, and elevate risk for diabetes".
Insulin resistance and impaired glucose metabolism are common health consequences of a diet heavy in processed carbs, bad fats, and added sweets found in fast food.
Type 2 diabetes is a chronic, disabling disease with serious health effects, and its development is influenced by the aforementioned risk factors.
The USDA recommends a daily caloric intake of 2,700 and 2,100 kcal (11,300 and 8,800 kJ) for men and women (respectively) between 31 and 50, at a physical activity level equivalent to walking about 1.5 to 3 miles per day at 3 to 4 miles per hour in addition to the light physical activity associated with typical day-to-day life,[13] with the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety guidance suggesting roughly the same levels.
[14] However, besides fast food consumption, there are many other reasons for overweight among children while they are growing, including sex development, "hormonal changes", and social interactions.
"[15] The fast food chain D'Lites, founded in 1978, specialized in lower-calorie dishes and healthier alternatives such as salads.
[17] Fast food often comes in wrappers coated with polyfluoroalkyl phosphate esters (PAPs) to prevent grease from leaking through them.
[21] In a research experiment published in Pediatrics, 6,212 children and adolescents aged 4 to 19 were examined to extrapolate some information about fast food.
[22] Additionally, in the study children who ate fast food, compared to those who did not, tended to consume more total fat, carbohydrates, and sugar-sweetened beverages.
Children who ate fast food also tended to eat less fiber, milk, fruits, and non-starchy vegetables.
After reviewing these test results, the researchers concluded that consumption of fast food by children seems to have a negative effect on an individual's diet, in ways that could significantly increase the risk of obesity.
[22] Due to having reduced cognitive defenses against marketing, children may be more susceptible to fast food advertisements, and consequently have a higher risk of becoming obese.
"While reducing fast-food intake is important, the rest of a child's diet should not be overlooked", said Jennifer Poti, co-author and doctoral candidate in the university's Department of Nutrition.
A 2014 People Magazine article recounts the experience, with a sample size of one, of John Cisna, a science teacher at Colo-NESCO High School, who ate a fast food diet for 90 days.
Harley Pasternak, a celebrity trainer and nutrition expert, supports Cisna's experiment by saying, "While I don't think it's a great idea to eat too much fast food...
"[25] A cross-sectional study in China shows that the relationship between BMI and times per week fast food consumption was not significant.
In the article of M. Mclnerney et al. is examined the impact of fast food labeling on college students' weight loss.
However, reports do not display any significant drop in sales at sandwich or burger locations which highlights no change in consumer behavior even after food was labeled.
This study depicted a prominent association between restrained eating and nurses working overnight shifts and those who are under high stress.
[35] The research gathered from a nationwide study in China strictly concentrated on the link between fast food consumption and the growing obesity epidemic in children, ranging from ages 6–18.
[36] "The McLawsuit" was a group of overweight children that filed a class action lawsuit against McDonald's seeking compensation for obesity related reasons.
[58] In 2015, a gruesome video clip of a T&S farm in Dukedom, Tennessee, was released by animal rights activists, where workers were caught abusing chickens.
"[60] In 2016 the company replaced the high-fructose corn syrup in its hamburger buns with sugar and removed antibiotics that are "important to human medicine" from its chicken.
They also removed artificial preservatives from their cooking oil, pork sausage patties, eggs served on the breakfast menu, and Chicken McNuggets.
The list includes McDonald's, Dunkin' Donuts, Carl's Jr., Burger King, Denny's, Jack in the Box, Quiznos, Shake Shack, Starbucks, Sonic, Taco Bell, Wendy's, White Castle, and Subway, among others.
[63] More other studies show that the exposure to poor-quality food environments has important effects on adolescent eating patterns and obesity.
