McDonalds

Introduction

People are moving towards a society where they can just go and eat whatever they want, without realizing what harm this food is causing to them. This is the reason obesity has reached heights in the United States. Fast food is now embedded in the American culture and people cannot live without it. Nowadays, fast food has become a regular meal for the individuals especially children. The fast food chains, especially McDonalds, have been accused of spreading unhealthy eating habits among children. McDonalds targets the children by using different advertising and promotion schemes.

Discussion

Cigarette or tobacco industry and its practices have been compared with the practices of McDonalds. People have accused McDonalds of making youngsters and children addicted to fatty and unhealthy food. A person named John Banzhaf who is a lawyer has even sued McDonalds to show them responsible for fast food addicts' health problems. Some people even criticize McDonalds marketing practices worldwide. As McDonalds has kept its prices constant and at times even reduced the prices to attract consumers to its McDonalds story. It is not just the prices but the way McDonalds panders to the wishes of children by giving them accesses to attractive play areas and sophisticated toys and in return offering them poor quality and nutritiously lacking food (Borgmann, pp. 67).

According to Schlosser these companies only want to earn a profit, and they do not care about the hygiene conditions in which they prepare nor do they care about the health of the people. According to him, the companies do not even care about the farmers who play a major role in their business. The owners of fast food chains are very brutal and care only about profits.

McDonalds promotes the fast food culture and encourage the children to indulge in unhealthy eating habits. This has led to an increase in obesity among children. Obesity and an overweight population are serious problems. According to the National Institute of Health, “Obesity specifically refers to an excessive amount of body fat” and "overweight refers to an excessive amount of body weight that includes muscle, bone, fat, and water.” According to the Center for Disease and Prevention, "poor diet and physical inactivity in the U.S. are estimated to cause about 310,000 to 580,000 deaths annually due to cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes (Schlosser, pp. 45).” A number of people who suffered from obesity spent huge sums on getting rid of obesity. This amount was estimated to be $147 billion a year. 72 million obese adults are living in the U.S. Two out of three people are either obese or overweight in America. Being overweight causes a lot of problems. It can give birth to cardiac diseases and even diabetes. The health problems that affect overweight people include: blount disease, arthritis, slipped capital femoral epiphyses, asthma, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, gallstones, fatty liver, pseudotumor-cerebri, polycystic ovary syndrome, and depression (Wiltz, pp. 23).

Nutritionists argue that the type of food with high fat content, submitted by McDonald, is associated with ...