Conclusion

In conclusion we have found that a lot of New Zealanders do eat fast food too often and it does lead to problems (Take these obesity statistics for example. In 2006-2007 26.5% of the adult population in New Zealand was obese, 1 in 4 adults! In that same time period 1 in 12, 2 to 14 year olds were obese, 8.3% of the child population and 20.9% of the child population was over weight, one in five children. Yikes!) but there is a way to stop. The government needs to take charge in educating not just children but adults in these causes. We don't care if they are doing it already, obviously they are not doing enough because we have never heard of healthy eating courses or anything like that. Have you? Maybe they need to advertise about it more, but that just shows they are not doing enough.

As you have read through the previous post you would have seen many different horrifying facts about obesity and health problems that are caused by this. You have also read the answer to this. Moderation! If we all had a moderate diet, we would all be healthy and we would have more energy to do the things we love and spend more time doing this. So the next time you are about to scoff down a big mac or about to cram a large bar of daiy milk choclolate into your mouth, stop and think...

Are the consequences really worth it?

Overcoming the love of Fast Food

Yes, all of us love fast food in some form or another. But how can we STOP eating it too often? To find the solution we have to find out WHY people still eat fast food.

Studies have shown that people know that fast food is unhealthy but they still eat because
a. They think it is convenient
b. They dislike cooking or...
c. They think fast food is cheaper then healthy food.
This means that if we can educate people that healthy food can be cheap, convenient and easy to make, it will encourage people to eat healthy food. Schools are starting to do this in subjects such as health and food technology but do you ever hear anything about it anywhere else? No. A lot of people think that it is because people just can't get over that they can't cook or that is takes too much time.

Solution?: We have found a website full of delicious food AND it has a special section for 20 minute recipes which, are quick and easy to make AND taste good. Everyone wins (well except the people selling fast food)!

Visit: http://www.healthyfood.co.nz/recipes/browse/recipe-types-collection/ready-in-20mins

Tell your parents about it or make some of the things on it yourself!

What else plays a role in swaying your opinion?

How come everybody knows about McDonald's? Is it the large amount of restaurants placed around the town, the way you can hardly drive anywhere without passing one? Is it the bad stories that are told about finding chicken heads in the chicken nuggets that circulate the media? Partly yes, these things do help in luring people into the trap of unhealthy food (OK bad press doesn't help but the name still gets stuck in your mind) but the main factor is the advertising.

McDonald's and Burger King advertise a lot to little kids, young gullible victims. Even the ones who don't like the food McDonald's serve still want to go there, why? Because they want one of the transformers toys or a my little pony doll that can be found in their happy meal. We like to think of this as bribery, it shows how uncertain they are of their standard of food that people can't just go their to eat, or they will be disappointed. What is in it the makes them so uncertain? We don't know about you but, we don't want to find out!

Don't get us wrong though, adults can still be lured into traps to, and they do. Ever noticed that the hamburger you see on television is at least 10 times bigger, fresher and better looking then the one you get to eat? Ever realised that your bag of chicken nuggets always has more nuggets in it when you are watching it on a screen? We certainly have. You can't help your mouth watering when you see your favourite subway roll on the box at home, next time you go past a subway you can't help but think about that yummy sandwich, so you rush in, order it and what you get is a squashed, greasy, lumpy mess. Advertising works just like that.

The Effects of Fast Food

Eating fast food can have terrible consequences and effects on your body. All the high calories it contains, your body stores but it is more then you need and you don't burn it off, so it is just stored as body fat. And if you lived on a constant diet of this junk then you'd wake up in the morning and look in the mirror to find you're just a chubby, blob. Yes, you'd get fat, fat, fat. But not all hope is lost, you CAN eat fast food without getting fat, it's all in moderation. Ever looked at the food pyramid? Then you'd find that fast food is up at the top, things you should eat very occasionally. That means that if you excersize regularly you can have McDonalds for dinner once a month and you won't gain weight!
Fast food doesn't just make you fat though, all this extra body weight leads to making it harder to excersize and if you don't burn it off it can lead to obesity. Obesity not only looks ugly, it comes along with many other health issues too and is a major risk factor for deadly diseases such as diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease and many different types of cancer. Not only are there those side effects you also start feeling very tired and you can't do the thigs that you loved doing. But don't feel down by this. Just remember what was said before "It is all in moderation"

Facts about Fast Food

Fast food is takeaways such as McDonald's, KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut and Subway. It is also classified as cheap meals which are convenient and quick to get. Fast food can also be things sold in shops or supermarkets such as Coke and Sprite which are packaged in bulk, convenience, cheap and processed. What actually makes fast food considered 'Bad'?



Generally fast food isn't as good as good quality as home cooked meals because it is cheap meaning the things that are put in would be more fatty and processed for convenience. It is usually fried, soaked in oil or have had something done to it to make it last longer, taste better and look nicer using added preservatives, colours, flavours, fats and sugars.



Ten Quick Facts about Fast Food:



- Every month 9 out of ten American children visit a McDonald's restaurant.

- Today Coca-Cola products are sold in every country in the world except North Korea.

- There are more then 300,000 fast food restaurants in the U.S alone.

- Children and teenagers on average drink 64 gallons of fizzy drinks a year.

- French fries are the most popular form of fast food in America.

- In 1970 french fries over took regular potato sales in the United States and in 2004 Americans consumed 7.4 billion pounds of frozen french fries all together.

- If you eat a double cheeseburger from Burger King you would need to walk for 9 miles to burn the calories off because it contains 923 calories!

- Type 2 diabetes can be caused by eating fast food because eating it can result in high levels of insulin which is linked to diabetes.

- The average American child sees 10,000 food adverts on television each year.

- McDonald's serve over 40 million customers every day.