Is there in truth an association between childhood obesity and fast food? The response will deviate depending upon whom you ask. Obviously the fast food industry would like to deny such an association. But parents will do well to consider the facts. Obesity isn’t only a problem of how a child looks. It also means many dangerous and often fatal health conditions. Being overweight is linked to bronchial asthma, arthritis, joint damage, cardiopathy, diabetes, certain types of cancer, gout, sleep apnea, respiratory distress, and chronic pain. So, considering whether or not childhood obesity and fast food are connected can mean preserving a child’s health. Let’s look at this subject a bit closer.
One reason to think that there’s a link between childhood obesity and fast food is that obesity is a modern problem. Physicians have never encountered as many cases of it in the past as they do today. It looks as if it’s no coincidence that we also have more fast food restaurants now than ever before! These restaurants are on just about every street corner in the U.S. They are even inside of many other businesses such as retail stores, libraries, office buildings, and even schools. But the number of restaurants and the number of cases of children being overweight doesn’t itself prove that there’s a connection between childhood obesity and fast food.
Nonetheless, you would do well to look at the types of foods served at fast food restaurants. With this in mind, the connection between childhood obesity and fast food may be more glaring. About all items on a fast food menu are very calorie-dense. This means that they provide a lot of calories for the measure of food you’re consuming. Most medium sized hamburgers have about 500 or more calories. Compare that to a turkey sandwich made of wheat bread which might have around 200 calories. And, of course, along with the hamburger comes fries and a soda, and possibly even a milkshake or dessert.
The association between childhood obesity and fast food gets obvious when you think about how often children eat these types of meals. Simply one fast food meal can hold a full day’s worth of calories. A child that consumes these meals a number of times per week or more than one per day can mean they’re literally consuming thousands of extra calories per week.
The number of calories that a person will typically devour at a fast food restaurant is an obvious connection between childhood obesity and fast food. If a child is active enough to burn the extra calories it might not be a problem. But many children nowadays live very sedentary lives, sitting in front of the idiot box during their spare time instead of than being outside playing. While the connection between childhood obesity and fast food is obvious, the food isn’t the only culprit or cause to the problem. A parent had best get their child up and active in order to preserve his or her health.
For a free guide to healthful cooking, visit Facts About Childhood Obesity. For more information about some of the causes of childhood obesity visit Facts About Childhood Obesity.
categories: weight loss,obesity,loosing weight
