The Global Fast Food Market and Its Harmful Effects on Health and Society

This article discusses the harmful effects of the global fast food market on health and society. It explores the prevalence of obesity, the social disparities caused by fast food, and the need for government intervention. The study includes data from various developed countries and highlights the long-term consequences of consuming fast food.

Running head: GLOBAL FAST FOOD MARKET 1
The global “fast food” market and its harmful effects on health and society
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GLOBAL FAST FOOD MARKET 2
The global “fast food” market and its harmful effects on health and society
Often, we might be too busy or too hungry to prepare healthy food. As a result, we resort
to buying a quickly prepared and packed food or snack in a nearby restaurant or joint. Little do
we know of the potential consequences that comes along with consuming such food. Fast food,
according to the World Health organization, is a quickly prepared food and served at restaurants
(Barrera, Rothenberg, Barquera, & Cifuentes, 2016). The methods of preparation in most cases,
are questionable since most of this foods have higher calories and unsaturated fats. The fast food
manufacturers are always aggressive in marketing with a report in the United States of America
in 2015 stating that a child is able to recognize McDonalds, a popular joint where fast food is
served, earlier than speaking. The consequences of fast food are partly due to the aggressive
marketing coupled with the liberated markets in developed countries like Australia, United States
of America, Canada, New Zealand and Ireland.
High prevalence of obesity in the society is one of the long term harmful effects of the
global fast food market. Obesity is harmful both on health and the society. Obesity, according to
the World Health Organization, is the undesirable accumulation of cholesterol in the body that
poses a huge risk on health. Obesity can be diagnosed by a Body Mass Index of 30 and above
(Bhadoria et al., 2015). In 2013, the World Health Organization reported 42 million cases of
obesity among children below 5 years. This was later followed up with a multi-variate study to
examine the relationship between obesity and the market deregulation. The study included 25
high income countries (Frank, 2016). The final results indicate that developed countries like
Australia that have market liberal welfare regimes have higher prevalence of obesity as opposed
to those without.

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Obesity does not only pose risks to health but to the society in general. In a study by
Poobalan & Aucott in 2016, examining the cross relationship between obesity and the effect on
the society, data was analyzed from more than 30 developed countries where the prevalence of
obesity is relatively higher (Poobalan & Aucott, 2016). Results show that obesity is a risk factor
for other complications such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes mellitus. Most of
this chronic conditions are fatal contributing to more than 50% mortality rates globally (Stanton,
2015). Since children are the most affected by obesity, death of such young generation deprives
the society of its energetic and productive generation. This creates a shortage of labor within the
society that eventually cripples the economy of the respective countries.
Fast food markets contributes to social disparities within the society. In a study by
Musaiger, Al-Khalifa, & Al-Mannai in 2016, results show in most cases, children especially
below 5 years are at constant loggerheads with their parents due to fast foods. While some
parents are fully aware of the negative impacts of fast foods, children under peer pressure and the
aggressive advertisement of fast food markets on national television, feel that they should have a
regular bite of that quickly prepared snack with high cholesterol (Musaiger, Al-Khalifa, & Al-
Mannai, 2016). This creates constant disagreements among families that in return subjects the
children to stress and eventually contemplate suicide. Furthermore, the study states that fast food
are brewing a lazy generation within the society such that instead of preparing healthy food, they
resort to a cheaper and readily available option of fast food at the nearby restaurant.
In as much as fast food provides that quick satisfaction and saves us much time in
preparing healthy food, respective governments should come up with strategies to ensure fast
food markets are banished due to their negative impacts both locally and globally.

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References
Barrera, L. H., Rothenberg, S. J., Barquera, S., & Cifuentes, E. (2016). The Toxic Food
Environment Around Elementary Schools and Childhood Obesity in Mexican Cities.
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doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2016.02.021
Bhadoria, A., Sahoo, K., Sahoo, B., Choudhury, A., Sufi, N., & Kumar, R. (2015).
Childhood obesity: Causes and consequences. Journal of Family Medicine and
Primary Care, 4(2), 187. doi:10.4103/2249-4863.154628
Frank, J. (2016). Origins of the obesity pandemic can be analysed. Nature, 532(7598), 149-
149. doi:10.1038/532149a
Musaiger, A. O., Al-Khalifa, F., & Al-Mannai, M. (2016). Obesity, unhealthy dietary habits
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chronic diseases in a poor country. Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine,
21(4), 224-230. doi:10.1007/s12199-016-0515-5
Poobalan, A., & Aucott, L. (2016). Obesity Among Young Adults in Developing Countries:
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Stanton, R. A. (2015). Food Retailers and Obesity. Current Obesity Reports, 4(1), 54-59.
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