Sweet 1

Erin Sweet
Professor Tarwater
English 102
14 April 2014
Is the Happy Meal truly Happy?
The Coca-Cola and McDonalds logos are the worlds two most recognized symbols
today. Whether an individual lives in Oklahoma or in Egypt, there is a good chance that they will
recognize the Golden Arch and will know what it is. Fast food restaurants are known for their
delicious, easy to obtain meals, but many who eat it do not think of the true consequences.
Although fast food is a cheap alternative to cooking a meal, it is a growing problem in our
society today because of the obesity epidemic, the health issues that people are getting, the bad
habits that children are forming from it, and the terrible quality of food that a person is receiving
from fast food joints.
To start off, people today are becoming extremely obese. Look around; there is a good
chance that any one person could spot and count at least 5 overweight people on an average day.
For example, Dr. Ananya Mandal wrote in her medical article, There has been an exponential
rise in the number of obese individuals especially in developed nations like United States and
United Kingdom. Now obesity has become a public health problem in most nations (Mandal 1).
With that being said, obesity is a problem that the United States suffers from. Because fast food
is so easy and cheap to get, it makes sense why the world and people in it are obese. In the same
article, Mandal states, studies have shown that the rise in obesity among the world population

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could be attributed to an increase in calorie intake coupled with lack of adequate physical
activity (2). Fast food is extremely high in calories and the more someone eats it, the more
weight they are likely to gain. Even a person who exercises regularly would have a hard time
keeping weight off if they at fast food consistently. In the end, fast food is not an ideal meal to
eat because of the rate of obesity not only in America today but throughout the world.
Along with that, diseases such as heart disease and diabetes are becoming much more
common. Although certain diseases are genetic, eating fast food only makes the problem worse.
In particular, Mark Pereira writes, Now, University of Minnesota School of Public Health
researchers have examined the eating habits of residents in Singapore and found new evidence
that a diet heavy in fast food increases the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and coronary heart
disease (Pereira 1). With such a high rate of Americans eating out and buying fast food, they are
at risk for diabetes and other various types of diseases. Also, in an article written by Matthew
Lee, he discussed, In a 2005 study published in the Canadian Journal of Public Health,
researchers at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Ontario, Canada found that regions
with high concentrations of fast food restaurants are 2.62 times more likely to have extremely
high levels of hospitalization for coronary problems (Lee 1). With all of this evidence, any
average person would be able to see how fast food and diseases related to the heart or diabetes
are linked. The more fast food a person consumes, the more likely he or she is to suffer from
some sort of health problem, whether it may be type 2 diabetes or a cardiovascular condition. To
draw things together, the rate of different types of diseases such as diabetes or heart related
illnesses are increasing dramatically. It is a known fact that fast food is not helping the problem
but only making it worse.

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To continue, children today are becoming overweight and are often teased by vivid
commercials that fast food chains put out, encouraging them to eat at their restaurants. With all
of the colorful commercials shown on kids networking channels such as Nickelodeon and
Disney Channel, no wonder many young children are intrigued by all of the ads that fast food
companies air on television. In an article written by Sara Ipatenco, she states, Marketing toward
children puts their long-term health at risk by enticing them to eat foods that are low in nutrition,
the Center for Science in the Public Interest reports. Fast food restaurants invest about 10 billion
dollars a year to entice children to eat at their establishments (Ipatenco 1). The huge play places
that major chain fast food facilities have in them are enticing to the children that eat there. They
are always coming out with new toys from movies and are finding new ways to reel children in
to their restaurant. Of course this sounds nice to the children eating there, but the real question is
how is that truly benefitting them in the long run? In another article written by Isabelle Taft, she
stated that, Although one in three American children are overweight or obese, fast food
companies continue to spend billions advertising mostly unhealthy foods to children and teens,
according to a new study by the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity (Taft1). She goes
on to explain, Researchers found that just six fast food companies are responsible for over 70
percent of all television ads viewed by children and teens (1). If it is true that 1 out of every 3
children are not at a healthy weight, why do so many Americans continue to feed their kids
unhealthy meals such as a Happy Meal or a Jack in the Box hamburger? As observed in the
previous article, children are most drawn to fast food because of all the ads fast food restaurants
put out. In order for children to not be so enticed to places such as McDonalds and Wendys,
there must be a limit on the amount of advertising put on childrens channels. All in all, the rate

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of obesity among children is rocketing. Fast food places are not helping this situation but are
only making it worse by encouraging kids to eat unhealthy.
Lastly, a person should stay away from fast food because of how low quality the food
truly is. In places such as McDonalds, Burger King, and Wendys, many workers will tell how
they do not eat the food that they make because of all the horrifying things they do to make it. In
an article called the BlindSpot, Chef James Oliver explains how McDonalds makes their
hamburgers. He explains in documentaries, television shows and interviews, that the fatty parts
of beef are washed in ammonium hydroxide and used in the filling of the burger (MBD 1).
After hearing this, who would ever want to go near a McDonalds again? In the same article, it is
mentioned that, Most disturbing of all is the horrifying fact that because ammonium hydroxide
is considered part of the component in a production procedure by the USDA, consumers may not
know when the chemical is in their food (MBD 2). Most individuals would want to know what
they are truly consuming. If they did, it is questionable as to how many would actually still eat at
fast food places. Anyone that would consistently eat McDonalds food would start to not feel
their best. That could be due to all of the things they add in our food that we do not know about.
In conclusion, chain fast food restaurants add ingredients to their food that is harmful to the
human body.
To pull everything together, any human being should not consume fast food because of all
the harmful effects it has on ones body. Although it is fast and easy, is it really worth the health
risks associated with it? An individual should steer away from fast food because of the rise of
obesity, the health risks associated with it, the terrible habits that children are forming from it,
and the low quality of food that we are receiving from these restaurants. An alternative that I
could give out to not eating fast food anymore is to bring a lunch to school, work, or just about

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anywhere. Bringing a lunch would encourage someone to eat what they packed and would not
give them the urge to go out and buy a large order of fries on their lunch break. Staying away
from fast food will not only save a persons money in the long run, but will save their health as
well.

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Works Cited
Taft, Isabelle. "Fast Food Ads Continue to Target Children." Yale Daily News. N.p., 12 Nov.
2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
Pereira, Mark A. "Fast-food Habits, Weight Gain, and Insulin Resistance (the CARDIA Study):
15-year Prospective Analysis." Fast-food Habits, Weight Gain, and Insulin Resistance
(the CARDIA Study): 15-year Prospective Analysis: The Lancet. The Lancet, 1 Jan. 2005.
Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
MBD. "Hamburger Chef Jamie Oliver Proves McDonalds Burgers Unfit for Human
Consumption." Political Blind Spot. N.p., 3 Aug. 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
Mandal, Ananya. "Obesity and Fast Food." Obesity and Fast Food. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2014.
Lee, Matthew. "Statistics of Health Risks From Eating Fast Food." Healthy Eating. SFGate, n.d.
Web. 13 Apr. 2014.