Background: Childhood Obesity

Like Jared, many people around the world are suffering from obesity. Year after year the number of obese children increases which is a serious problem. Not only are they obese, they are also at a high risk for many health complications that go along with obesity such as heart attack, stroke, impaired breathing, and diabetes.
Kids are and have been the focus on many fast food restaurants advertisements for many of years. The restaurants pair up with movies such as Shrek or How to Train Your Dragon to lure children in to eat their product and promote the movie. They use catchy advertisements to lure the children to want to get this amazing toy because the kids in the commercial are having a blast with it. So after seeing this commercial, the children go after the toy that goes with their “Kids Meal” which is the bait that gets them hooked.
Another group that is being oppressed is the poor neighborhoods. Take a look at the number of McDonalds in Compton, CA, then look at how many there are in Beverly Hills. We can see a great number of golden arches in Compton and very few if any in Beverly Hills. Morgan Spurlock explains in his book Don’t Eat This Book that the reason behind this that there isn’t any grocery stores in these neighborhoods so the fast food restaurants to banking on this fact. They also provide food at a cheap price which makes it more accessible for the people living here since on average their salaries are very low compared to other areas.
In these hard economic times, many schools are looking to save money where they can. Unfortunately a few of the first things to have cuts are the physical education classes and cafeteria services. Children are losing needed exercise since many schools are eliminating their physical education classes all together. To add to it, schools are outsourcing their cafeteria services to whom else but fast food companies because they can either save money by selling cheaper food or the school will be paid for the company to work out of their facilities. It is a double whammy for the children and we can see this in full effect amongst them.
The one oppressor that has been getting heat for years is McDonalds. They have created some of the most affordable but least healthy food one could ever think of. From the Big Mac to their “Fit” meals, there food contains high amounts of sodium, calories and cholesterol according to the nutritional table on their website. Their catchy advertisements draw children and adults into their restaurants and hook them on their so called food. To give u perspective on how bad fast food is for us Morgan Spurlock tells a story of a guy who bought a cheeseburger from McDonalds one night and forgot about it in his jacket. A year later he cleans out his closet and finds the burger. “It looked like I bought it yesterday” is how this gentleman described this year old burger he found in his jacket pocket.
Cafeteria service at most schools is presumed to serve healthy food since it is at the school and they would be looking out for their children. Unfortunately this is not the case as cafeteria services are one the first services to have cuts in it. The catering companies that are used to serve food to our youth do not sell that healthy food. Pizza, hot dogs, cheeseburgers, soda, and chips are just a few of the items they sell. We all know that these foods are very high in saturated fats, cholesterol and calories. The public does not see this as part of the problem since they are in delusion that the school looks out for the best for their students but unfortunately cash talks and that’s a key factor in our children’s health.
After the release of Fast Food Nation, a great amount of attention was brought upon the fast food industry. This prompted the creation of the documentary Supersize Me by Mr. Spurlock which showed the effects of eating nothing but fast food for a month. After the release of this movie, the supersized option was removed from the menu at every fast food eatery. According to Mary Jalonick of the San Mateo Times, 9 million adults or 27 percent from age 17-24 are too fat to join the military. Military leaders are strongly urging Congress to take hold of this by the reins by regulating cafeteria food and funding physical education. Another positive step forward according the KTVU News was in Santa Clara County where they outlawed fast food companies from putting toys with unhealthy food.
As we can see, fast food companies our hurt our country. Their catchy advertisement and little gifts are causing more and more people to become obese and suffer the consequences of obesity. Because of this each year the percent of obese children in the US continues to climb. Not only does this hurt the individual but it hurts the country as a whole. These obese children will suffer from diabetes and are at high risk for heart problems. Since more and more people are becoming obese, less people are able to be recruited into the military due to this which a problem for national security. If we do not start now to stop this epidemic our nation will continue to be the heaviest and most unhealthy nation in the world.