Fast Foods Increasing Child Obesity

It is difficult to calculate exact statistics behind childhood obesity as it relates to the consumption of fast food. What can be confirmed, however, is that changing trends in the way we eat have indeed contributed to the general obesity epidemic, particularly in children and young adults. In a recent study in the United States, it was found that children absorb more calories and less nutrition on those days that they consume fast food.

In the study, the dietary intake from over 6,000 children and young adults between the ages of four and nineteen was analyzed. The ones who ate fast food absorbed more calories total, as well as more calories per gram, more carbohydrates, more saturated and total fat, more sugar, and less fiber, fruit, milk, and non-starchy vegetables. It was also shown in the study how the children who ate fast food on one day only showed nutrient downfalls on that day. But on the other, non fast food day, they did not show these downfalls.

It is estimated that since the 1970s, young people’s consumption of fast food is five times greater today. By the mid-1990s, ten percent of all daily meals involved fast food consumption. Also, since the 1970s, there are more fast food restaurants than ever – the number is estimated to be at well over 250,000 establishments in the United States alone.

Why is this such a concern? Because childhood obesity is a bigger problem than ever before. The fact that fast food contains next to no fruits or vegetables is a real problem, in that it contributes to such diseases as diabetes and cardiovascular disorders. Consuming fruits and non-starchy vegetables can protect against weight gain, in that they contain a lot of fiber and contain low energy density.

In the mid-90s, it was recorded that young men and women only consumed 12-30% of the recommended intakes of dairy on a daily basis, and only 14-18% of the recommended intake for fruit.

The amount of carbonated soft drinks that are consumed by children and young adults increased dramatically throughout the course of the previous decade. Nearly half the adolescent population of the United States consumes more than three cans of soda pop a day. Kids as young as seven months old are now drinking cola products.

Indeed, whereas milk used to be the beverage of choice for young kids, now it’s those sweetened carbonated beverages. Milk consumption in the 1990s decreased nearly forty percent from the average for adolescents in the late 1970s. That means that children today drink twice as much soda pop as they do milk! Prevention of obesity ultimately begins at home. For children and young adults dealing with obesity, it is best to evaluate the individual’s situation, taking in to consideration environmental, genetic, and metabolic concerns while treating the arising physical and psychological damage that has arisen. An obese child’s eating plan should also come with an exercise plan. Long term counseling is often needed to deal with self esteem issues relating to obesity that can effect the child’s performance in the real world.