essay on fast food should be banned

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Fast Food Should Be Banned: Analysis of Health Effects

• Categories: Fast Food Junk Food Obesity

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Words: 1465 |

Published: Jan 28, 2021

Words: 1465 | Pages: 3 | 8 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, why should fast food be banned, works cited.

• Oliver, J. (2010, February). Teach every child about food. TED. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver?language=en
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). Overweight & obesity: Adult obesity facts. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html
• World Health Organization. (2021). Obesity and overweight. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight
• American Heart Association. (n.d.). Fast food and your heart. Retrieved from https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/nutrition-basics/fast-food-and-your-heart
• Stuckler, D., & Nestle, M. (2012). Big food, food systems, and global health. PLoS Medicine, 9(6), e1001242. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001242
• Ludwig, D. S., Peterson, K. E., & Gortmaker, S. L. (2001). Relation between consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and childhood obesity: A prospective, observational analysis. The Lancet, 357(9255), 505-508. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(00)04041-1
• Rosenheck, R. (2008). Fast food consumption and increased caloric intake: A systematic review of a trajectory towards weight gain and obesity risk. Obesity Reviews, 9(6), 535-547. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-789X.2008.00477.x
• Nestle, M. (2013). Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health (3rd ed.). University of California Press.
• Roberts, C., Troop, N., & Connors, M. (2019). Eating Behaviours and Obesity. In R. F. Bell & J. M. Lundahl (Eds.), Handbook of Obesity Treatment (pp. 55-67). Springer.
• Smith, T., Smith, B., & Kelly, P. (2018). "Just one more piece of cake." Obesogenic environments and the irresistible pull of sweet treats. In M. K. Demauro (Ed.), Sugar Consumption and Health (pp. 61-76). Nova Science Publishers.

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Home Essay Samples Food Fast Food

Why Fast Food Should Be Banned: Overview of the Arguments in the Debate

Table of contents, the health crisis argument, the environmental impact argument, the counterarguments, social and cultural considerations, the conclusion.

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Should Fast Food be Banned

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Fast food or junk food is food that does not have the right nutrition’s for our bodies. According to Ashakiran and Deepthi R (2012), fast food contains excessive amounts of flour, sugar, fat, salt, and food additives (8). They also mentioned that it is widely popular, probably because it is easily accessible. Examples of fast food chains are McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, and even Starbucks. Other than fast food not having the right nutrition’s, studies have found dangerous chemicals in this type of food.

This essay will discuss those dangerous chemicals and conclude if fast food should be banned. Firstly, if we all know it is not healthy, why are so many people still eating fast food? There’s a few advantages to it.

It isn’t called fast food for no reason, junk food is often made and served quickly. If someone has a small lunch break, it’s an easy decision to stop and get something fast. Another reason is all the added salt and sugar makes the junk food taste good. They also add food additives and colors to make it look appetizing. In addition to making the food look better, the packaging is usually quite colorful and appealing as well.

The chain restaurants also spend money on ads to bring in more people (Ashakiran and Deepthi, 2012). For example, McDonalds has “happy meals” that are for children. This meal includes a toy and I remember wanting to go just for that toy. Some McDonalds restaurants also have playhouses where kids can run around and climb in tubes. Do these goods outweigh the bads? There is still a list of dangerous chemicals in these foods.

One chemical that is put into the food is called butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA). This chemical is supposed to make the food last longer. BHA has some interesting characteristics. One characteristic is BHA is insoluble in water but soluble in fats and oils. Since there are excessive amounts of fats and oils in fast food, BHA dissolves right into it (“Butylated”). This is dangerous to eat because BHA is a carcinogen. This means that it has a risk of causing stomach cancer. This has been tested with animals which is why this chemical is believed to be dangerous (“Dangerous”).

Another additive that can cause cancer is the addition of artificial trans fats. Hydrogen is added to unsaturated fat to make trans fats in fast food. This process also makes the food last longer. Other than being linked to causing cancer trans fats have a negative effect on cholesterol levels, which can lead to heart problems. Trans fat can also increase the chances of stokes and diabetes (“Dangerous”). This is only two chemicals that are added. There are many more that are found.

Some of the chemicals found are not even directly put into the food. Many fast food packaging is coated with perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs). The PFCs help the grease from the food not soak into the packaging. These compounds have recently been deemed dangerous because it’s possible these compounds can get into the food were eating. Once they’re in our bodies, PFC breaks down into perfluorooctanoic acid, called PFOA (Michael Hawthrone, 2017).

PFOA was found in the drinking water of 75,000 people in West Virginia. These people were looked at and seven risk factors were concluded from the effect of PFOA. These include, higher cholesterol, pregnancy- induced hypertension, ulcerative colitis, two types of cancers, and two different diseases (Liza Gross, 2017). PFOA is especially dangerous for children because their bodies are still developing. Fortunately, people are taking action to lessen the risk of these dangerous chemicals.

Whether or not to ban junk food is complex and multifaceted. While some argue that it poses health risks and contributes to obesity and other health issues, others maintain that individuals can make dietary choices. Ultimately, the decision to ban or not to ban junk food rests with the governing bodies of each country or state and must consider factors such as public health, individual rights, and economic implications.

There is a plethora of detrimental consequences associated with consuming unhealthy foods, commonly known as “junk food”. Such consequences comprise of obesity, heart ailments, and diabetes. Junk food items are loaded with high amounts of calories, unhealthy fats, and artificial sweeteners, and they possess little to no nutritional value.

Several compelling justifications support the prohibition of junk food in schools. The most apparent rationale is its detrimental impact on health. These foods contain an excessive amount of sugar, fat, and salt, culminating in obesity and other health-related issues. Furthermore, another justification for forbidding junk food in schools is its addictive nature.

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Fast Food Industry: Arguments for and Against Essay

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Executive Summary

Introduction, managing expectations, managing perceptions, evaluations, list of references.

The fast food industry has experienced massive growth over the last one decade. Health experts have linked foods offered in this industry to the increasing lifestyle diseases. They argue that the industry subjects people to junk foods, causing serious health concerns in the society. Some members of the society have also associated fast food industry with a lot of social evils that make them believe that the industry should be strictly regulated through government policies. However, it is unfair to associate all the lifestyle diseases such as coronary complications and diabetes to the industry. Every type of food has its negative effects when it is consumed in large quantities. What needs to be done is to increase awareness campaigns about dangers of overconsumption of some types of food.

The role played by this industry is so vital that it would be unreasonable to propose punitive regulatory policies against it. There are those who depend a lot on this industry. Some people believe that they get maximum variety of foods they need from the fast food stores. A standard McDonald’s store will have a variety of meals to choose from, making them very popular with the youth. This industry is also known for its innovative nature. We need to promote healthy eating among members of the society. When we visit fast food stores, we should ask for healthy foods that do not pose any health risks to us. It would be okay to take some of the delicacies such as fried chicken once in a while, but it should not form the basic dish in the daily menu.

Fast food industry has experienced a massive growth over the last two decades in various countries across the world. McDonald’s, KFC, Subway, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Burger King, and Domino’s Pizza are some of the leading fast food restaurants that have managed to expand their operations beyond their local market. However, there has been a raging debate about the benefits and negative consequences of this industry. The controversy has been on the health consequences of the industry against some of the benefits it offers. While a section of the society believes that this industry is very beneficial, especially to those who have limited time to prepare their own meals, another section has been complaining about some of the negative health consequences and financial impact this industry has on people.

The arguments against fast food industry are just as strong as the argument for it. It is important to analyze specific facts that are put forth by the group opposed to it, and those who are in support in order to determine the relevance of the industry (Carney 1995, p. 66). Basing our arguments on business ethics, this research will analyze benefits of this industry against the negative consequences it has on people.

In a piece of research, it is always important to be able to manage expectations of the audience in order to improve chances that they will accept the findings of the research. According to Schlosser (2012, p. 25), the society is highly diversified, and when approaching specific issues, people are likely to take sides based on their feelings about the issues. Their feelings will define their expectations. For instance, those who believe that fast food industry is beneficial to them and other members of the society will expect the findings of this research to be in support of their beliefs. On the other hand, those who are opposed to the industry will expect this report to give strong points that will be against the industry.

Each of the two sides has its own reasons why it takes a specific stand on the issue, and this must be respected. However, both sides must appreciate that in research work such as this one, there will be a need to take a stand based on the findings that will be made. The findings will form the basis of evidence that will advice whether the report will support or reject specific point of reasoning.

Different people have different perceptions towards fast food industry. There are those who believe a mention of fast food industry means such delicacies as fried chicken, hamburgers, hotdogs, and those other fancy foods that they enjoy taking along the city streets (Cate 2011, p. 69). This group therefore, associates this industry with fun, and it may be difficult to change their perception from this. It may be difficult to convince them that the fun they generate from such food may pose some threats to their health. On the other hand, there are those who believe that this industry is the main reason why countries like Qatar, the United States, and the United Kingdom is spending a lot in the health sector.

These extreme perceptions must be managed so that they can appreciate that in one way or the other, they may be wrong. Before getting into the evaluation of different scholarly opinions, it is strongly suggested that those who have strong beliefs over the issue should take a break and appreciate that they could be wrong. This way, it becomes easy to open a fair ground of debates over the issue.

Fast food industry has been in existence for some time now, and the recent statistics shows that it is expanding at an unprecedented rate. According to Jakle and Sculle (2002, p. 45), fast food stores have outmuscled conventional hotels that was popular before, both in the developing and developed countries. Hotels are currently considered a preserve for the rich, or those on tours. Despite massive campaigns by the medical fraternity and other members of society against fast foods, there have been no indications that people are willing to withdraw from eating such foods. They continue to ignore for reasons they believe are justifiable enough. It would be important to analyze specific reasons that make them support or denounce this industry.

Arguments for the Fast Food Industry

According to Smith (2006, p. 55), fast food industry is one of the fastest developing industries not only in the developed nations but also in the developing world. This scholar argues that for the last one decade, there has been over 70% growth of this industry worldwide. Travelers find it easy to pope into fast food stores, and so do those at work or in a picnic within the city or city suburbs. This research sought to identify specific benefits that people get from this industry, making it one of the most robust industries in many countries around the world. One of the reasons that have been cited as the reason for the growth of this industry is its convenience. In the current economy, most people find themselves working in town settings. As a result of the pressure that employers have on their employees, it becomes difficult for people to find time to rush home for lunch.

In some cases, some of these employees only have one hour or less to get their lunch. Scherer (2010, p. 53) says that ,it is during such breaks that these employees get some little time to address some personal issues, or complete some assignments that they were not able to do, just to ensure that they can beat their deadlines. For this group, what they need most is a convenient location that is near their offices, and can offer foods they need within the shortest time possible.

Such locations are definitely not hotels where they will have to wait for over 45 minutes for their meals to be ready. Fast foods offer a perfect solution to this group. With a list of foods that are always ready such as fried chicken and hamburgers, customers get to be served in less than five minutes. It would take them another five to ten munities to take such meals, and less than two minutes to pay the bill. This means that in less than twenty minutes, one would have taken lunch and would be ready to go back to their work stations (Emerson1979, p. 88). This is one of the main reasons why this industry has experienced tremendous growth.

According to Johansen (2012, p. 87), the friendly prices that fast foods offer must have been the main source of attraction, especially among the middle class people. With the ever increasing cost of living, people are looking for alternatives that would cost them less as compared to other alternatives. Smith (2012, p. 78) says that a meal that costs $ 180 in a standard hotel may probably cost $ 60 or $ 70 in some of the fast food outlets. The middle class is very sensitive about the cost they have to pay for various products. Such a massive difference in price would easily make them be drawn to fast food stores. Given the fact that they have to eat in such outlets for at least five times a week, they easily find it economical to eat at the fast food stores.

A section of the society believes that they get maximum variety of foods they need from the fast food stores. For instance, a standard McDonald’s store will have a variety of meals to choose from, making them very popular with the youth. This industry is also known for its innovative nature. While hotels tend to be conservative by preparing only those meals that are known to their customers, fast food outlets always try to bring something new into their menu. This way, they get to present a variety of meals to their customers. Some of these customers like the experience of having new types of food every time they visit these stores. This makes them anticipate for more new products on every visit they make. This has seen many people, especially the youth, flock in fast food stores.

The societal structure is changing, and some of the roles that were associated with a specific gender, have to be redefined in an environment where both parents are bread winners. The notion that women were supposed to take care of children and home, while men look for family bread is no longer in existence. Women are currently as active in the corporate world just as their male counterparts. They leave their houses in the morning, and come back in the evening as tired as their husbands. It becomes difficult for them to go to the kitchen and prepare meals for the family. Such families have found their solace in the fast food industry (Rosoman 2008, p. 97).

On their way home from work, they can easily walk into a fast food outlet and buy a complete meal for the entire family. This way, they do not have to subject themselves to a tedious task of preparing meals once they get home. Given the friendly pricing of most of the fast food stores, they find it easy to manage their budget easily, while still ensuring that every family member is pleased with the meals they get. Fast food stores have been viewed as a symbol of diversity that we currently have in our society.

The world has been turned into a global village, and it is easy to find people from various corners of the world staying within a small part of town within this country. Qatar, just like the United States, has been attracting many visitors from all parts of the world. With such diversity comes the need to have food outlets that will offer a variety of food products that would meet the diversified needs. Most of the hotels prefer sticking to specific types of food that are popular within a given region. However, giant fast food stores such McDonald’s will find it easy to prepare a variety of meals as long as there is a ready market for these foods.

This not only make such stores convenient for people, but they also act as forums where members of the society get to appreciate the diversity they have in the country. Such social forums encourage integrations among people of different cultural settings. This makes the industry an integral part of the society whose role goes beyond offering meals, but also fostering peace and unity among people from different cultural backgrounds.

Arguments against the Fast Food Industry

Fast food industry has been viewed as one of the leading health concerns in the current society. Some members of the society have also associated fast food industry with a lot of social evils that make them believe that the industry should be eliminated through government policies. It would be necessary to analyze some of the specific claims that have been made against this industry to determine if they are relevant.

According to Dalgleish (2006, p. 67), most of the foods offered in the fast food industry are associated with a series of health problem. The fast food industry offer junk food that many people prefer simply because of their tastes or the belief that they are cheap. The deep-fried chicken or meat, the hamburgers, and such other related foods are rich in calories. When taken regularly, such calories may accumulate in the body leading to serious health consequences.

Currently, the leading causes of death in the United States are the coronary related problems. Other lifestyle diseases such as diabetes are also on the rise. These diseases are directly related to the kind of meals we take, and that is why many health experts have associated them with the fast food outlets. Foods offered in these stores also pose other health problems to the innocent population (Duram 2010, p. 47). As the name suggest, most of the meals at such stores take very a short period of time to be prepared. For example, meat would be fried within the shortest period possible because of the large number of customers that have to be served.

This means that if that particular meat had some infections, then it would be easily consumed by people, a fact that puts their lives into a great danger. The main problem is that the victims do not appreciate that they are subject to some serious health problems that may affect their lifestyle. They know that these risks exist, but prefer to live in denial. This may require some interventions from the government to make the players in this industry comply with some of the standards that should be set by relevant governmental agencies on health.

Fast food industry is one of the strongest forces that lead to distortion of the traditional family structure. According to Hargreave and Hill (2001, p. 95), one of the most important moments in a family is during the meal time. It brings together all members of the family at a table, and this helps strengthen family ties. Members of the family may get to discuss other important matters after meals, and this helps in developing strong foundations for children. This way, children develop as responsible members of the society who appreciates social structures. Parents also get to understand their children, and the specific issues that may be affecting them in one way or the other.

Fast food stores are changing this attractive family structure. Parents now know that they can work till late hours, pass by a fast food outlet and buy food for the entire family. When they reach home late at night, children are always too sleepy to engage in any healthy discussion with their parents. They are forced at eat in a hurry so that they can go to bed. The parents also fail to get quality time for each other. They slowly get withdrawn from each other, and the feeling that they do not need each other starts developing in their minds. The man develops the feeling that he can do without the wife because some of the duties he expected her to address can be taken care of by these outlets. This explains why there is a consistent rise in the rates of divorce (Hayes & Laudan 2009, p. 83).

Most of the fast food stores have been associated with human rights abuse and total disregard to some of the labor laws. According to Torelli (2011, p. 77), the law defines that every American is entitled to work for 7-8 hours in a day. Any other extra hours must be treated as overtime, and such overtime must have higher remunerations. However, a recent study by Aaseng (2001, p. 68) shows that some of these fast food stores are not following this regulation. They subject their employees to poor working environment, and some are forced to be on duty for over 12 hours in a day. While some pretend to pay a little higher for the extra hours worked, most of these stores pay a flat rate even for the overtime that employees are subjected to work. In New York, there have been demonstrations by workers in this industry claiming that their rights are being violated.

In Qatar, things are not any different. Most of the fast food stores prefer employing people as casuals. They would lay them off when they realize that they have worked for them long enough to qualify for permanent employment, only to higher them latter as new employees. According to the report by Pendrys (2011, p. 96), this tactic is very common among the leading firms in this industry. In order to perfect this impunity, they have developed a strategy where their employees are paid per day. This is to confirm that they are treating these employees as casuals whose services are only needed at that moment they are within the firm. As Sacco and Schott (2011, p. 86) observe, poor pay that employees receive from their work is one of the reasons why there is social strife in parts of the society. Such cases as industrial actions have negative impact on the economy.

Some of these employees may even consider engaging in criminal acts to help them increase their income to supplement with what they get from these stores. The increasing numbers of people who visit hospital with lifestyle related diseases have overstretched capacities on most hospitals. This has lowered the quality of service delivered at such institutions.

It is clear from the discussion above that there are people who strongly believe that fast food industry is important in the normal developmental processes in our society. On the other hand, another section believes that fast food industry is associated with health problems and other social evils that make it an undesirable industry. These two factions have very strong reasons that make them believe in their stand. However, a review of both sides’ views reveals that there is some truth in what both sides say. It is a fact that some of the foods offered in the fast food outlets are junk, and therefore, pose serious health problems to the users.

These health problems not only affect the victims but also the government and public in general. When many people fall ill with some complex diseases such as heart problems, the government will be forced to spend a lot to take care of this population. Government expenditure on health sector has been increasing over the last one decade. This is closely related to the foods offered by this industry. As mentioned above, some of these foods pose serious health problems to those who consume them.

The government has the responsibility of ensuring that its citizens get access to quality medical care. Given the increasing number of those who visit hospitals with diseases related to their eating disorders, government facilities are overstretched. This makes it difficult to offer them quality healthcare. In the meantime, the number of people who will be working in the government or private institutions will be decreased. This in turn lowers the output level of the society. Ethically, this may be an unacceptable trend that this society may not tolerate.

On the other hand, it is also true that fast food stores have offered a cheap alternative to the middle class who are struggling to make ends meet. These food outlets are conveniently located along the streets, making it easy for the working class to have access to meals during lunch hours without much struggle. This industry has been very supportive to women who have gotten into the corporate world. They can now get ready meals for their families, lessening the burden of having to prepare meals on their own. In order to find a middle ground between these two contradicting arguments, there is need for a rational reasoning.

Everything when taken in excess has its negative consequences. The society needs awareness campaign to let them know the specific foods to eat in moderation to avoid any negative health consequences. This way, the society will know how to eat responsibly. When the demand for food classified as junk by medical experts reduces, these fast food stores will be forced to stock healthy foods.

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Emerson, R 1979, Fast food: The endless shakeout , Lebhar-Friedman Books, New York. Web.

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Pendrys, E 2011, Memoirs of a fast food man , Authorhouse, New York. Web.

Rosoman, C 2008, Therapy To Go: Gourmet Fast Food Handouts for Working with Adult Clients , Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London. Web.

Sacco, P & Schott, J 2011, Fast food dating: Your 2 cents: over one thousand served! . DoctorZed Publishing, Adelaide. Web.

Scherer, L 2010, Fast food , Greenhaven Press, Detroit. Web.

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• Ideology of Fast Food Industry Development
• Fast Food Ban Necessity in Schools
• The economical aspects and different perspectives for fast food industry in Canada
• Fast Food's Main Detrimental Effects
• Schlosser's Articles
• Food and Its Influence on America
• Fast Food, Quick Problem Emergence, Rapid Addiction and Slow Recovery Process
• The Consequences of Fast Food
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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An opinion essay about fast food.

Look at the exam question and essay and do the exercises to improve your writing skills. 

Instructions

Do the preparation exercise first. Then read the text and do the other exercises.

Preparation

Check your understanding: matching

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Eating And Health

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Scientists Are Building A Case For How Food Ads Make Us Overeat

Eliza Barclay

Exposure to visual food cues like food ads can influence eating behavior and contribute to weight gain, a study published in the journal Obesity Reviews found. Nick Amoscato/Flickr hide caption

Exposure to visual food cues like food ads can influence eating behavior and contribute to weight gain, a study published in the journal Obesity Reviews found.

Editor's note at 10:51 a.m. ET, Feb. 1: The original version of this post lacked a perspective from the food industry. That post also may have given the impression that NPR has a position on whether food ads should or should not be banned. A new version appears below and the original version follows.

Why is it that we haven't seen ads for cigarettes on television since the Nixon administration ?

Because after nearly a decade of restrictions on smoking ads, in 1969 Congress passed legislation banning the ads on television and radio. President Nixon signed the bill into law and it took effect in September 1970.

Promises, Promises: Is Big Food Marketing Less Junk To Kids On TV?

By that same logic that ads can harm health, public health advocates say food ads should be tightly regulated. They say food companies use them to entreat us to indulge in fattening products and they link our obesity epidemic to unhealthy foods we see on TV.

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But the burden of proof when it comes to obesity is higher, partly because eating is a lot more complicated than smoking. And so far the public health community's battle against food ads has been mostly a losing one.

Two new meta-analyses may help policymakers decide what role food ads play in our obesity epidemic. While different in size and scope, both papers show how food advertising influences eating behavior — and can have a major impact on eating and eventual weight gain.

One of the studies is by Hedy Kober , who runs the Clinical & Affective Neuroscience Laboratory at Yale University. Kober and graduate student Rebecca Boswell decided to review the evidence on the effect of exposure to food cues — both real food and visual cues like ads — and craving on both eating behavior and weight gain. They looked at 45 published reports involving about 3,300 participants.

"We found very, very strong relationships between reactivity and cues and weight and eating," Kober tells us. And she says the results , published online in the journal Obesity Reviews, s hould inspire us to crack down on how food companies advertise to us.

"Why do we still allow food advertising when children can sit in front of TV cartoons, and in between they get exposed to burgers, fries, chocolate — things we know are nutritionally not the best?" she says. "[Those ads] lead them to ask [for] and want to eat those foods, and that's something we need to think about really seriously."

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The second meta-analysis appears in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and is a bit narrower in scope: It looked only at studies on how exposure to unhealthy food advertising affects food consumption.

While Kober's meta-analysis found no difference in how visual cues affected eating in adults and children, the second paper did. Ads for junk food significantly increased food consumption in children, but not adults, the researchers found in their analysis of 22 different studies.

"We have also shown that the effects are not confined to TV advertising; online marketing by food and beverage brands is now well established and has a similar impact," study leader Emma Boyland said in a statement. She's a lecturer in psychological sciences at the University of Liverpool's Institute of Psychology, Health & Society.

The takeaway? The researchers believe more strategies and policy options to reduce children 's exposure to food advertising are needed — not just in the U.S., but everywhere.

Policy experts in the U.S. says they're not particularly optimistic about the prospects of legislation restricting food advertising to children here.

"I really don't have a lot of hope for regulating food ads," says Robert Paarlberg , a global food and agricultural policy scholar affiliated with the Harvard Kennedy School and Wellesley College. "They're considered to be commercial protected speech, and the Supreme Court would have to weigh in to overthrow that."

As Paarlberg writes in his 2015 book, The United States of Excess: Gluttony and the Dark Side of American Exceptionalism , the Obama administration had proposed voluntary guidelines for the industry on food advertising. But the White House dropped that proposal in 2012, after Congress passed a bill requiring a cost-benefit analysis of the guidelines and whether it would lead to job losses in the food and beverage sectors.

The industry does have a voluntary Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative , designed to help companies shift advertising to children under 12 to healthier options. According to the CFBAI's progress report published in December 2015, all 18 participating companies, including Coca-Cola, Burger King and Mars, have adopted nutrition criteria to decide what foods should be advertised to children under 12. And in 2014, more than 50 foods were added to CFBAI's Product List because they met that criteria. (Additional foods were added in 2015, as well.)

But as Dale Kunkel , a professor emeritus of communications at the University of Arizona, told my colleague Allison Aubrey last year, these efforts to cut back on marketing unhealthy foods to children "have barely moved the needle in terms of shifting food advertising to children to genuinely healthy products."

American kids see , on average, three to five ads for fast food per day. And about 50 percent of all ads directed at children are for food.

Food companies spend less than one half of 1 percent of their marketing dollars to promote fruits and vegetables, according to a 2012 report from the Federal Trade Commission. Instead, they peddle mainly fast-food restaurant items, sugary beverages and cereal.

ORIGINAL POST:

Because public health officials said the ads caused people to smoke more and raised their risk of getting cancer. And because Nixon stood up to the tobacco industry to sign legislation banning the ads to protect people from that temptation.

By that same logic, public health advocates argue, food ads should also be tightly regulated: Food companies use them to entreat us to indulge in their products. And we have an obesity epidemic linked to those unhealthy foods we see on TV.

Two new meta-analyses may help put the nail in the coffin of doubt about whether food ads are bad for our health and partly to blame for our obesity epidemic. While different in size and scope, both papers show how food advertising influences eating behavior — and can have a major impact on eating and eventual weight gain.

The takeaway? We need more strategies and policy options to reduce children 's exposure to food advertising — not just in the U.S., but everywhere.

The industry does have a voluntary Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative .

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Debate: Should Junk Food Be Illegal?

Yes, that’s right: we are talking about laws designed to curb junk food consumption, particularly amongst children. The logic behind just such a trend in the United States is that one in three of the country’s kids and teens is overweight or obese — nearly triple the rate in 1963.

Surely it would be much better if we followed the idea that ‘all things are best in moderation’. But that is just not happening — we seem to be unable to voluntarily moderate our consumption of junk and unhealthy food.

It is therefore not surprising that childhood obesity is now the top health concern among parents — more than drug abuse and smoking, according to the American Heart Association . This worry is because obesity in children is causing a range of chronic health issues that formerly were not seen until adulthood, including high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and elevated blood cholesterol levels.

The US is not alone in facing this problem: as we have discussed before on Our World 2.0, obesity has gone global. According to nutritional surveys from the World Health Organization’s Global Database on Child Growth and Malnutrition, in 2010 there were 43 million overweight or obese preschool-aged children in the world and an additional 92 million at risk of becoming overweight. This means a prevalence of 6.7 percent, up from 4.2 percent in 1990.

This is thanks to corporate giants targeting these new markets , and effectively; a new study finds that the rate of increase in consumption of “unhealthy commodities” (soft drinks and processed foods high in salt, fat, and sugar, as well as tobacco and alcohol) is fastest in low- and middle-income countries.

In the US, this health pandemic is being tackled at various levels of government. Case in point is New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg’s latest move: the introduction of a proposition that would limit the size of all sweetened drinks (soft drinks, lemonade, bubble tea, etc.) to 16 ounces (0.47 litres). Bloomberg has already taken other steps to try to curb the city’s high rates of obesity/overweight (34 percent of the adults are overweight and 22 percent are obese) including banning trans-fats and requiring calorie counts in restaurants.

Sinister soda pop?

George Hacker, senior policy advisor at The Center for Science in the Public Interest, explained that, “Up to half of the extra calories people are eating today compared to the 1970s are from soda [soft drinks].”

Again, this is because the soda pop/soft drink industry has expanded its market niche. Where it was historically considered as a treat to be consumed once or twice a week, it has become a daily habit for so many around the globe. The soda industry also aggressively targets children and poor communities with its advertisements. (Though this is hopefully falling out of fashion, if other big players follow Disney’s recent plan taking ads for junk food off its children’s programming.)

Studies have indeed found a link between sugary drinks and childhood obesity to the point where a contingent of US national and local health, medical and consumer organizations, municipal public health departments, and several prominent individuals are calling on the country’s Surgeon General to issue a report on the health effects of soda and other sugary drinks. Their hope is that such a report will have a similar impact as the 1964 landmark Surgeon General’s report on tobacco use , and bring authoritatively to light the public health impact of these types of drinks.

[quote quote=”Laws strictly curbing school sales of junk food and sweetened drinks may play a role in slowing childhood obesity, according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics.” type=”text” ]

Meanwhile, laws strictly curbing school sales of junk food and sweetened drinks may play a role in slowing childhood obesity, according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics that analyzed data on 6,300 students in 40 US states and examined several databases of state laws governing food and drinks sold in public school vending machines and school stores, outside of mealtime. The study considered laws to be strong if they included specific nutrition requirements, such as limits on sugar and fats.

The results of the study showed that consistently strong laws had the biggest impact. For example, children who were 5 feet tall (1.5 metres) and 100 pounds (45.4 kg) gained on average 2.2 fewer pounds (998 gr) if they lived in states with strong laws. Though this change seems slim, obesity experts argue that even incremental change is important.

Draconian government overreach?

So, what do you think?

Is this problem important enough to overlook the fact that legislative moves smack of a ‘nanny state’ ,  or worse yet, in the words of comedian/social commentator Jon Stewart , are such laws “draconian government overreach”? It is a subject that he has pursued with some verve on the Daily Show, pointing out the hypocrisy of regulating super-sized soda drinks in New York when there is so much unhealthy food available almost everywhere in the city.

Perhaps we should be asking: If this stuff is so bad, why not make it illegal for the food industry to create such “edible food-like substances” (in author Michael Pollan’s words ) that endanger people’s health?

[quote quote=”Is it not grossly paradoxical and ridiculously counterproductive that the US government spends billions of dollars to support the production of additives key in confecting junk food (like high-fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated vegetable oils)?” type=”text” ]

Because, after all, is it not grossly paradoxical and ridiculously counterproductive that another study found that the US government spends billions of dollars to support the production of additives key in confecting junk food (like high-fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated vegetable oils) while providing only a fraction of that amount for fresh produce?

Should we look on the bright side and have hope that this legislation is the first step in weaning ourselves off of these resource-intensive food stuffs?

Better yet, is it indicative of a global progression towards vegetarianism ? Such a shift is looking ideal according to some. A new Swedish report says that the price spikes expected for commodity crops like corn, soybeans and wheat due to this summer’s severe drought in the US may be a taste of an even more serious reality:

“The analysis showed that there will not be enough water available on current croplands to produce food for the expected population in 2050 if we follow current trends,” says the Feeding a Thirsty World report by the Stockholm International Water Institute. “There will, however, be just enough water, if the proportion of animal based foods is limited to 5 percent of total calories.”

All things considered, it is certainly time to discuss all the options. Please jump in and share your opinion.

Carol Smith

Carol is a journalist with a green heart who believes that presenting information in a positive and accessible manner is essential to activating more people to join the search for equitable and sustainable solutions to global problems. A native of Montreal, Canada, she joined the UNU communications team in 2008 while living in Tokyo and, after relocating to Vancouver, continued to telecommute to Our World as writer/editor through 2015.

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Food Advertisements: To Ban or Not to Ban?

Khalid m. alkharfy.

From the College of Pharmacy and Biomarkers Research Program, Department of Clinical Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Driving in any of our big cities you would hardly miss at least a dozen street food advertisements displaying new menus and the latests inventions of the snack food industry. How many times have you had your little children begging you to go to a fast food restaurant after spotting the magic “Meal Box” on a street ad? Not to enjoy the meal as much but rather to unveil what surprise game is hidden in the box, and perhaps along with some “quality” time in the playground; for me, it has been countless times. But that is not all! Why we are bombarded with “cannot miss” sandwich and pizza deals chasing us to our houses and even while reading the newspaper or watching the television? The answer is quite simple. We are obviously being conditioned to look at food as an entertainment.

This subject should be looked at from the context of the increasing weight problem and associated co-morbidities in the last few decades. Globally, there has been a big change in disease burden as non-communicable diseases have become the main cause of death, where imbalances of nutrition, diet and physical activity play a major role. 1 Locally, surveys in a number of different areas and provinces have reported a high prevalence of overweight and obesity in Saudi children in all age groups and in all provinces. 2 A recent study indicates that overall country prevalence of overweight and obesity among Saudi children is 23.1% and 9.3%, respectively. 3 The picture is gloomier when you look at the children living in urbanized regions where obesity can reach up to 23.3%, 4 which coincides with major changes in lifestyle-related factors such as unhealthy eating habits, including the wide availability of high-energy food snacks, and a lack of physical activity. Indeed, a large percentage (i.e. about 50-60%) of children and adolescents do not adequately exercise, 5 which adds to the problem of overeating and weight gain. For Saudi adults, it has been estimated that 27.23% of males and 25.20% of females are overweight, while 13.05% and 20.26% males and females, respectively, are obese. 6

It is widely accepted that exposure to food advertisements promotes over-consumption in younger children and obese and overweight children are indeed more responsive to food promotion, which specifically stimulates the intake of energy-dense snacks. Halford and co-workers have compared the eating habits of obese to non-obese children and they found that obese children consume significantly more fast foods than the non-obese children. 7 , 8 These findings among others have led to the development of seven principles known as ‘The Sydney Principles’ by an International Obesity Taskforce (IOTF) Working Group to guide action on changing food and beverage marketing practices that target children. 9 The Principles state that actions to reduce marketing to children should support the rights of children, afford substantial protection to children, be statutory in nature, take a wide definition of commercial promotions, guarantee commercial-free childhood settings, include cross-border media, and be evaluated, monitored and enforced.

The National Institute of Health (NIH) conducted a large study to directly tie childhood obesity to fast-food advertising on American television, based on the viewing habits of 13 000 children between 1979 and 1997. The study concluded that a ban on fast-food advertising to children would cut the US obesity rate by as much as 18%. 10 This was perceived a long time ago in the Scandinavian countries where Sweden and Norway instituted bans on all ads to children in the early 1990s. Similarly, Quebec has also banned food advertising to children during programs geared toward kids. Also, the Children's Food Act 2004 of United Kingdom makes a provision regarding the marketing and sale of food and drink to children. Unfortunately, studies evaluating the effect of fast-food advertisements on weight gain among Saudis are lacking. Therefore, an exploration of a possible association is highly needed.

Perhaps behavioral modification with respect to food intake will be effective in the treatment of obesity, especially in Saudi Arabia. Controlling exposure to food advertisements should have a positive impact on the way we all perceive food. This, along with reasonable physical activity should be encouraged as a strategy directed towards weight reduction and obesity and related diseases in the Kingdom. And the question “to ban or not to ban the food advertisements in our country” remains to be answered.

Home > Advice > What's Bad For You > 5 Reasons Junk Food Should Be Banned

5 Reasons Junk Food Should Be Banned

It’s not a secret that fast food is bad for you. I don’t think I just blew your mind by writing that. I do, however, think that people believe that there’s nothing wrong with eating fast food in moderation. It really comes down to ignorance being blissful.

I love the analogy that our bodies are like vehicles. You want the best fuel for your car, but do you always provide the right fuel for your body? The fast food industry gives that option to people, giving you regular when your gas-guzzler requires premium.

The main reason fast food should be foods to avoid is an obvious one: it can lead to many health problems such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes . Fast food consumption is probably one of the most common addictions that nobody talks about. The addiction leads to disease.

People talk about the seriousness of alcohol and smoking addictions; however, how many fast food addiction help centers are there? It doesn’t appear to be a big concern because people have to eat. And, if there were public service announcements about how you should limit your fast food consumption, how do you think the big corporations would act? Let’s just say it’s not going to happen anytime soon.

The solution is about making informed and healthier choices . A lot of people realize that the Big Mac is causing health problems, but do they relate that mouth-watering meal to why they are angry at the world or are getting divorced? When you realize the role fast food plays on your health and on society, you may discontinue your daily or weekly trip to your favorite burger or pizza joint.

Here Are Five Reasons Fast Food Should Be Banned

1. fast food isn’t even food.

Pretty much every nutritional expert will tell you not to eat any processed food, especially fast food. They don’t even consider it food, not even the so-called “healthier” options with fewer calories. For your body to function properly, it needs quality nutrients.

There is very little fiber, vitamins, or minerals in your fast food, which means your digestion is instantly compromised. Fast foods should definitely be foods to avoid. They are highly processed, piled with refined sugar, salt, saturated fat, and hydrogenated fat.

It’s also no secret that factory-farmed animal products and genetically modified foods are the fast food industry’s best friends.

2. Fast Food Affects Your Brain

Have you ever wondered why you feel so calm and clear-minded, and other people are so angry at the world ? The fast food industry plays a big part with this. Omega-3s are essential fatty acids that are beneficial for brain health. A fast food-oriented diet lacks these nutrients, one of the reasons fast foods are foods to avoid.

Magnesium, tryptophan, and low glycemic foods are all essential for proper cognitive function. B vitamins such as folic acid (B9) will help prevent mental issues like paranoia and decreased memory.

Eating too many carbohydrates such as hamburger buns, French fries, and pizza will affect your mood and may cause depression and anxiety. It makes sense then that people who regularly eat fast food are 51% more likely to become depressed, according to a study.

Whenever you have a goal to accomplish, adding fast foods to your list of foods to avoid and eating plenty of real foods (fruits, vegetables, grains) will help you focus.

3. Fast Food Quickly Drains Your Wallet

A lot of people justify their fast food habit based on cost. “I want something cheap and easy,” they might say. The truth is the cost really adds up! Depending on the location, basic fast food meals can range between five and eight dollars.

You could easily spend $15-$20 making a homemade meal, instead of spending $40-$50 on a family of four eating one fast food meal (another reason to add them to your list of foods to avoid).

Related: Comparison Of Fast Food Vs. Home Cooked Meals

4. Fast Food Teenagers Become Unhealthy Adults

I believe nutrition education should be a priority from a young age. The impact of what you put into your body definitely should be drilled home in the classroom but it’s not. Whenever they are not at home, teenagers are free to eat what they want, and they might choose foods to avoid, like unhealthy fast food.

Fast food options like greasy pizza and fatty burgers are even cafeteria options. A student’s grades are greatly affected by the foods they eat and they play a role in concentration and misbehavior.

Taking an omega-3 and a multi-vitamin/mineral can help produce smart and goal-oriented students. The longer a kid or teenager continues their fast food habit, the more nutrient deficiencies they will obtain, and they will also be more prone to disease later in life.

5. Fast Food Increases Your Disease Risk

Your risk of disease increases when the majority of your diet is foods to avoid like fast food. Fat intake accounts for more than 40% of the American diet and fast food is high in fat. Also, weight gain and blood sugar spikes often go together, just as obesity and diabetes.

You will crave certain fast foods at different points of the day when your blood sugar levels are too low, such as your coffee and donut in the morning or your triple fudge sundae for dessert. This is why all fast and convenience foods are foods to avoid.

A healthy diet is the best way to protect against disease and balance your blood sugar levels with a significant amount of low glycemic index foods, such as salmon, tuna, avocado, broccoli, kale, and other dark green leafy vegetables.

Healthier Options

I realize it may be hard to make every meal in today’s constantly on-the-run society; however, there are healthier options when you have the right mindset. Think outside the take-out box, so to speak. I’m not saying never eat out because it really depends on your schedule, circumstances, and your habitual tendencies but there are some better options like:

• Organic health food hot table buffets
• Natural foods restaurants
• Ordering healthy soups, preferably lentil, split pea, and other bean and vegetable options
• Eating at Mexican, Brazilian, or other Latin places that may offer healthy bean and rice dishes.
• 5 Fast Food Meals That Are Actually Healthy!
• What’s Really Inside Your Fast-Food Sandwich?
• Drive-Thru Dining: Tips for Choosing Healthy Options
• Why Are Hot Dogs Bad for You?

Sources: “Fast-Food Consumption and the Ban on advertising Targeting Children: The Quebec Experience” AMA Journals; http://journals.ama.org/doi/abs/10.1509/jmkr.48.5.799?code=amma-site , last accessed Mar 10, 2014

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Junk Food Should Be Banned

Many children in America eat large amounts of junk food, and this can cause health problems. In fact, junk food is even sold in the vending machines of many schools. This debate is about the good and bad points for how junk food should be banned. Whether you believe junk food is unhealthy, or you think it’s good, please add to this debate.

All the Yes points:

Junk food is unhealthy, junk food can cause obesity, unhealthy food may be bad for brain function, junk food can increase the risk of diabetes, banning junk food in schools could decrease the frequency of heart disease, junk food can have negative affects on bone health, habits are often formed during childhood and it’s important to ensure that kids eat a healthy diet in school, bans on junk food have been successful, some regions have already put warning labels on junk foods, fast food chains have even made efforts to make their foods less “junky”, all the no points:, yes because….

Junk food is highly unhealthy and can transform fit, healthy human beings into obese, lazy people. Is this what we want Earth to become for the future generations? I should think not. Eating too much junk food can cause your life to be shortened, and this is terrible. This is why I believe that junk food should be banned.

No because…

Junk food isn’t that bad. Healthy food can be just as bad sometimes. And when people try to change it, it just doesn’t work. For instance, my school’s canteen had a food change to make the food healthier. One day they cooked “healthy” fish and chips, and the people who spent $5 on it, got no chips and a tiny half-frozen piece of fish. This could happen to any other canteen, and I strongly advise against it happening, as it will turn out not to work.

The rate of obesity in the United States has risen dramatically. According to the CDC , more than one third of the population is considered obese. The rate of obesity is similar among children to the rate of obesity in the general population. Many more people are not obese but overweight. According to USAToday , around two thirds of the population is overweight. According to ScienceDaily, even moderate obesity can substantially shorten life expectancy. Over consumption of junk foods is a major contributing factor in the obesity epidemic. Many junk foods are extremely high in calories, and it’s easy for a person to exceed the recommended number of calories when they eat junk foods. Banning junk food in schools would reduce the amount of junk food that kids eat. Furthermore, some schools have already taken this step.

If junk foods are banned, kids will still eat junk food while in school. Instead of getting it from the school vending machines, they’ll sneak it in. This could create a climate of evasiveness among students. In some cases, students may even sneak out of school to buy junk food. Additionally, junk food is still likely to be freely available at home. Therefore, it’s possible that kids would simply binge on junk foods when they aren’t in school. This could cause their overall consumption of junk food to remain unchanged. Furthermore, banning junk food could increase the sense of boredom among students. This could potentially result in decreased academic performance. Another drawback to banning junk foods in schools is that it could be more difficult to prepare meals for students. By contrast, many junk foods can be prepared quickly. Furthermore, healthier food tends to be more expensive. The increased expense could result in an increase in school taxes. It also could result in an increase in the cost of school lunches.

According to WebMD , eating too much junk food could result in decreases in brain function. According to Consumer Health Digest , there are several types of food that are bad for brain health. The additives and preservatives in junk food can have impairing effects on cognition. Foods with a high level of salt also have been shown to reduce cognitive performance. Studies have also shown that fatty foods impair cognition. In addition, foods that contain residual amounts of pesticides might cause negative effects on brain health. Many healthy foods contain chemicals that are necessary for optimal brain function, such as Omega-3s. According to the University of Maryland , Omega-3s are extremely important. A deficiency of Omega-3s has been linked to a number of common mental health disorders, such as depression and ADHD. It’s even thought that a deficiency of Omega-3s could make one more prone to develop severe mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Banning junk food in schools could encourage students to eat more healthy food. This could reduce the prevalence of mental health problems among students. It also could improve the school performance of students.

Type 2 diabetes is becoming more common, and over consumption of junk food can increase one’s risk of developing it. There are two reasons why Type 2 diabetes can be caused by eating too much junk food. Many junk foods contain a high volume of sugar. If high volumes of sugar are consumed over a long period of time, the body can stop producing enough insulin. This can lead to Type 2 diabetes. In addition, Type 2 diabetes can be induced by becoming overweight or obese. In fact, many people who have Type 2 diabetes are able to cure the condition by losing weight. Serious health complications can result from Type 2 diabetes. In fact, Type 2 diabetes can even result in serious circulation problems that can result in amputation. In fact, diabetes is considered to be one of the primary causes of death in the United States. According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases , Type 2 diabetes can develop during one’s childhood under some circumstances. Banning junk foods in schools could result in a decreased rate of obesity, and fewer kids would over consume sugar. These habits may stick with kids for life, and this could further reduce the frequency of Type 2 diabetes.

Heart disease is a common cause of death in the United States, and it has been known to develop in children younger than age 18, according to WebMD . Poor diet is a major contributing factor to the development of heart disease. Therefore, an improved diet from a junk food ban in school could help to reduce one’s risk of developing heart disease. The reduction in obesity rates that could result from banning junk food in schools could have a particularly significant effect in terms of reducing the frequency of heart disease.

It’s unknown how much kids’ consumption of junk food would be reduced by banning junk foods in schools. If the ban didn’t reduce the amount of junk food that kids eat, the rate of heart disease would likely remain unchanged.

During childhood, bones are developing. Growing children need a significant quantity of calcium each day for bone development. Without enough calcium, serious defects in bone development can occur. A poor diet can increase one’s risk of developing osteoporosis, according to UPI . In addition to the lack of calcium in junk food, many junk foods contain high levels of sugar and fat. This can weaken bones. If junk foods are consumed in schools, this may cause kids to continue to eat a poor diet as adults. It’s thought that the first six years of life are crucial in ensuring that a proper diet for bone health is maintained throughout one’s life.

Banning junk food is likely to have an impact on one’s diet throughout their entire life. Prominent psychologists feel that healthy habits are formed during childhood. According to Blakeslee , a prominent psychologist, dietary habits formed in childhood tend to last throughout life.

If children sneak in junk food from home, banning junk foods in school wouldn’t help children to learn healthier ways of eating for life. Instead, the time and effort that went with sneaking in junk food could reinforce the habit of eating it even more.

Some schools in California have changed their policies on junk food. Instead of serving it in the school vending machines, they have switched over to serving carrots and other healthy foods. At these schools , it’s been estimated that students consumed an average of 160 calories less over the course of the school day. This is a significant decrease, and there was no evidence that these students over consumed junk food to any greater degree at home. This would be a significant enough reduction in caloric intake to significantly reduce one’s risk of becoming obese. If food that is served in vending machines at schools has health benefits, it would help to ensure that students get proper nutrition. If students are given the opportunity to buy healthy foods or junk foods from the vending machines, it’s likely that many students would choose the junk foods over healthier foods. Given the success of these bans, it’s likely that more and more schools will begin to follow suit in banning junk food. At least, it’s likely that more schools will stop selling junk food in their vending machines.

San Francisco has put warning labels on sugary sodas. This effort is also being considered by a state lawmaker in California, according to Reuters . While the products haven’t been taken off the shelves in any location, the effort is intended to inform the public about the dangers of drinking large amounts of sugary beverages. Given the fact that governments have issued warnings about sugary sodas, it makes us wonder if we really should allow them to be sold in schools. In addition to warnings on sugary sodas, warnings have been considered for foods that have a high concentration of salt. This is due to the fact that excessive salt intake can cause hypertension (high blood pressure). Some school aged children suffer from the condition. Many popular junk foods, such as potato chips, tend to have extremely high levels of salt. It’s not just San Francisco that is taking a stance on over consumption of junk food. In France, there recently was a law passed to prohibit free refills of sugary sodas.

While these laws have been successfully implemented, many feel that this is evidence that bans on junk food in schools could be a stepping stone to giving the government increased power over our day to day lives. A bill was even considered in New York City that would prevent sodas larger than 16 ounces from being sold. There was a large amount of opposition to this law. It can be difficult to determine where to draw the line as to what constitutes junk food. Foods vary considerably in terms of their nutritional value. So, it could be challenging to create a universal definition of what junk food is.

While many things on the McDonald’s menu are still very much junk food, the chain has begun to make an effort to reduce the amount of trans fats in their foods. According to CBS , one of their french fry oils no longer contains any trans fats. This helps to reduce the negative effects of the grease on the cardiovascular system. Furthermore, they have begun to incorporate healthier menu options in addition to the junk foods they offer. For instance, McDonald’s has started offering a variety of salads. In addition, they have begun to offer snack wraps with a relatively low amount of calories. This illustrates that Americans are becoming more and more health conscious. Therefore, many people would likely be in favor of banning junk foods in schools.

The fact that McDonald’s and other fast food chains have made an effort to make their menu items healthier doesn’t necessarily mean that people would tend to support banning junk foods in schools. McDonalds and other fast food restaurants still sell quite a lot of junk food. Therefore, many people would likely be disappointed about a ban on junk foods in schools.

To ban junk food would be a complete failure. It would also leave people feeling that their freedom of choice was taken. A better way to handle junk food is to make laws more strict about ingredient labels. Perhaps require foods with little nutritional value to have their nutrition facts be bolder and in a bright colour.

Every moving Junk Food franchise accumulates approximately $1 million a day. There are over 500 such franchises all over Australia and USA. Multinational companies like Lay’s, Doritos, etc. also make in the millions and billions. So imagine the amount of money international money, that would be drawn in every month. This kind of a cash flow is a necessity for big country economies to run. Hence, we should no let fast food joints or Junk food producing companies should not be shut down.

i think it is unhealthy i do not want OBESITY

I know junk food is good but at the same time junk food is not. Most people buys junk food but they don’t know that they are just wasting money and destroying their health. So I’ll got for “JUNK FOOD SHOULD BE BANNED”.

Hey! Very well written blog. According to The American Heart Association, we consume more than three times the amount of sugar over the recommended daily limit. Furthermore, these processed foods are tearing holes in our intestinal lining, allowing partially or undigested foods entry into our blood stream. It causes inflammation which not only effects the body but also effects the brain.

“junk food” is healthy and does not deserve a ban people say it is unhealthy and junk but it is NOT people are just jelous

Yes because it can cause a lot of stuff like brain damage and 108millon died cause of dieibites and it can cause cancer and more

keep the animals safe and healthy

ban all junk food so the animals will be saved

dave was here

Junk food can be good for the body if eaten in moderation, your body needs sugar and variety. The only people who get obese because of it, is people who are addicted to takis and stuff.

but…i love takis

takis are the best get a different example

you are grounded for that comment

Sure, junk food is bad for you, but it shouldn’t be banned; we should cut down on it. Junk food should only be eaten in moderation.

Junk food is unhealthy but it shouldn’t be banned because it creates jobs to help with economic debt we should just lower the amount of junk food we eat.

it will make people go to school but they could only get fast food if they do their woork

there were some of the other teams arguments in the other team’s speeches, but overall, this was great!

yes because

i am da god

Yes you are good god

someone wrote their sentence wrong it says ‘negative affects on bone health’ but it is actually ‘effects’.

Does anyone know who wrote this

I am concerned with all of the junk food that my school sells, and what my friends consume, from this school. The school is literally selling obesity, and I am kind of getting sucked into the junk food circle! I want it, but I know that it is horrible for you. I love chips and soda, but I don’t want diabetes, and I don’t love cholesterol.

That you can solve by eating a controlled amount and limiting your pocket money so you can’t afford more and you won’t get addicted.

Then don’t eat it…

All the people who liked this comment were probably adults with children that are obese, lol. Here’s a trick, if you don’t want your children to become obese, feed them healthily, maybe? Your probably buying all the junk food for them…

What are we calling junk food though.? I’m guessing we mean things with little nutrional value that have lots of fat sugar salt etc I’m on a low fat, low sugar, low carb diet due to health issues. I’m not sure we can ban ‘junk’ totally. A burger is deemed unhealthy but surely it’s grilled beef, meat bread and salad if wanted. Bakeries and take aways would disappear as would anything with sugar fat in it. It’s a lovely utopia dream but not really possible, if we eat too much of any one thing it’s not healthy. We can’t survive on just lettuce. Obesity isn’t just about junk food. It you eat large portions that too will encourage weight gain as well as lack of exercise. You can’t make people be more healthy. It’s down to the individual at the end of the day. But if people suffer health issues due to obesity then I think they owe it to the NHS to make an effort. We need to issue overweight people more options like prescribing a membership at the gym. A dietician, or perhaps vouchers to buy more healthy food, which is more expensive. Be hard to monitor though. I do want to cry when I see chubby kids though as that’s not their choice, its down to parents to buy cook their food, therefore allowing a child to become obese amounts to child cruelty in my eyes.

Junk food and fast food should be banned for all of the reasons mentioned. Another reason I feel it should be banned is because people don’t appreciate where the meat in their meals has come from . It’s more than likely been farmed intensively meaning an unfair quality of life for the animal, not the kindest ending to their life. The more worrying thing is that most intensively farmed animals are given antibiotics to prevent disease spreading and speed up their growth . HUMANS are eating this either through meat or dairy consumption and not to mention how much comes out through animal waste ! We are already starting to build a resistance towards antibiotics and surely this is just speeding the process up ? I feel need to go back to basics and start cooking, eat less meat ( or less cheaper intensively farmed meat and dairy) and stop paying these big takeaway companies and supermarkets to continue supplying us with this type of meat. The more we demand the more they supply. How do we get people to wake up to the fact that what they put in their mouths for their convenience is doing a lot more harm than what they realise.

No, and here are 6 reasons why. 1 restricting junk food early on only makes it more irresistible later when it’s their choice. 2 eating junk food can actually be healthy, a recent study shows that certain junk food has antioxidants that are good for the heart. 3 junk food like candy, cookies, and biscuits. 4 children should learn to make their own choices. 5 in school garbages the most wasted food is healthy food. 6 people like it and that’s their choice!

1: NOT restricting junk food early on makes it irresistible later, when you have gotten into a habit of eating delicious foods constantly, it becomes extraordinarily hard to stop later on-especially on young minds. 2: While certain types of junk food have antioxidants, there are much better ways to introduce these antioxidants. Throwing a few chemicals on candy and saying it is healthy is an overkill. 3: These foods could include milk, vegetables, or wholesome breads. 4: Its proven that children have a harder time making the right choice when there is a much more appealing choice. Children who need to learn to make the right choice have much more efficient options to help them learn independence. 5: By only providing healthy food to eat, children will eat that instead of starving themselves because they only eat junk food. By telling them junk food is bad and withholding it they won’t get into a habit of only eating junk food. 6: That’s there is home. At school, they should be educated on making good choices and we shouldn’t expose them to bad foods-even if they like it. Schools are a learning environment after all.

I agree. children should stay healthy but sometimes, they should be able to have it. it shouldn’t be an all the time thing.

I agree most definitely

I’m 18, I had a fairly happy and stable childhood, parents that were together and took care of me. I had many friends, got really good grades and had nothing to stress about. I also had anxiety and depression for the past four years of my life. It has honestly been the worst and most baffling period of my life. I have never been able to understand it. Until recently when i wanted to lose weight and started looking into healthy food alternatives and their health benefits I also started looking into why I started picking up weight in the first place. in my research I found that one of the causes might be a thyroid imbalance I went to the clinic and after a couple of tests they confirmed it. I looked into what caused thyroid problems(junk food) and what effect this would have on me ( one of the symptoms are anxiety and depression). I went to the doctor again because of some other issues I was having with my body and they said I had a gluten intolerance ( also causes anxiety and depression also caused by junk food). I can not explain how badly anxiety and depression ruined my life. It robbed me of so many precious feelings and moments in my life that I will never get to experience again and also simultaneously made me remove any people I might have cared for out of my life because of my fear of hurting them. Four years of my life I will never get back, all because no one explained to me what the labels at the back of my food actually meant. All because no one informed me of how these chemicals effect our bodies, All because buying healthy food is ridiculously expensive in comparison to unhealthy food. I mean this literally ruined my life, if something can cause thus much harm to someone surely it should be illegal. Sorry if this comes across as bitter, its just I would much rather someone had taught me about this in school rather than the Pythagorean theory.

I couldn’t agree more and Thankyou for sharing your experience . Sorry to hear about your health suffering but I am so happy you’ve found out the cause and know how to feel good again . I have a young daughter and I’m scared to let her see what rubbish food restaurants are out there . Everyone thinks I’m overreacting when I don’t want her eating at these places and get offended if I don’t have meals with them . I can understand how it ruins part of your life . I home cook everything and know I’m giving my daughter the best start . Thanks again for your story

Do you know how ridiculous this looks? All because SOMEONE ELSE never showed you how to read labels? So basically its SOMEONE elses fault. As someone who has spent years of their life in therapy/psychiatry I can tell you the root of your problem was more based on blame than food. If you magically got better after you learned something to blame it on.. Sure a crappy diet doesn’t help.. but basically it looks like you finally took action to a problem…and fixed it. Like normal adults. Its part of growing up.

I really appreciate you for sharing your experience with us. It was so sad to hear about your health suffering but on the other side I feel so happy on your recovery. We all know that banning the junk food is not the solution, the children should let themselves think about what is bad or good for their life. I am a seventh standard kid from india. I just want to let the government think about what they would do, we also have the right to chosen that is why our country is a democratic country. Once again I thank you for sharing your experience with us.

Agree that junk food should be banned

Oof dude u alright?

We would love to hear what you think – please leave a comment!

I think junk food should not be banned , because some children does not like eating veggies,i did’nt mean tha t we shoul’dnt eat veggies, we should eat but if we ban it children will stay hungry, and will not be able to concentrate.

Starving is better than being bullied because of your obese self therefore junk food should be banned

great work there bro.

• I think junk food should be banned because of obesity bullying some people commit suicide because of how big they get and the bigger you are the more of earth atmosphere gets used up you die faster than most people And if Global warming is a thing then stay skinny so less of global warming is reduced

What exactly is Junk Food? How does one define junk food? I heard a can of peas is consideered junk food while dry peas is not? Really? I takes time, to prepare dried peas, if one still has their utilities still in tact, no shut off because they can not afford the cost.

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• June 4, 2024   •   29:17 A Conversation With President Zelensky
• June 3, 2024   •   32:07 How Trump’s Conviction Could Reshape the Election
• May 31, 2024   •   31:29 Guilty
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