The Global Fast Food Market and Its Harmful Effects

This essay discusses the harmful effects of the global fast food market on health and society, including obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.

Running head: THE GLOBAL FAST FOOD MARKET AND ITS HARMFUL EFFECTS 1
The global fast food market and its harmful effects
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Introduction
Often, we are held up and have no time to adequately prepare healthy food. As a result,
we resort to buy snacks from a nearby restaurant. Little do we know the consequences of that
snack. These foods that are easily, quickly prepared and served in snack bars or restaurants as a
quick take away are known as fast food (Shah, 2014). In as much as fast foods can quench
hunger and save time, they have negative implications on both health and the society. Within the
framework of this essay, there will be an explanation on the effects of fast foods on health and
the society.
Discussion
Throughout the years, fast food has played a big role in the society in both good and bad
ways. Fast food have been the pillar of the economy of Australia for several years. However,
despite the advantages of fast foods, the procedure of preparing fast food has on most cases been
overlooked (Cobb et al., 2015). In a recent survey, results indicated that fast food is prepared or
composed of some harmful bacteria and meat which negatively affects the society without
realizing. Most of the manufacturers of these fast food are very creative. They come up with very
enticing methods to advertise the food. They normally target kids who are vulnerable
(Chowdhury, Haque Subho, Rahman, Islam, & Chaki, 2018). This makes the kids develop bad
eating habits from a tender age and the food intoxicates their health as well. According to the
Centre for Disease Control, fast food in Australia have doubled and so it obesity and overweight.
Obesity and overweight on the other hand not only affects their mental health but physical
wealth as well. What the society fail to comprehend is that the consequences of consuming fast
food outweigh the few minute of satisfaction that comes with the cheap fast food. According to
the World Health Organization, diabetes, high cholesterol, cardiovascular diseases and obesity

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are some of the leading causes of mortality brought about by fast food. Statistics indicate that as
at 2014, the prevalence of diabetes rose from 4.7% in 1980 to 8.5% in 2014(Wang, Wang, Xue,
& Qu, 2016).Furthermore, 1.6 million deaths were directly as a result of diabetes in 2016.
Cardiovascular diseases on the other hand contribute to 17.9 million deaths globally per year.
This is equivalent to 31% of deaths worldwide (Boyland et al., 2016). Child obesity is growing
day by day as the amount of money spent on advertising the fast food soar. This in return expose
our society to the harmful effects of fast food. Manufactures of the fast food normally target kids
by advertising their products on social networking sites as well as public media. With expanded
technological advancements, it is easier for the fast food agents to get their audience by exposing
name brands, new products on television and also through billboards and schools.
The best strategies to prevent consumption of fast food is barring children and adults
from accessing the food. This includes restricting advertisement on television, billboards and at
schools (Fulkerson, 2018). Even though this can harm the economy of the country, it is necessary
since the amount of money spend on treating complications of fast food are more than whatever
the country gains from exporting or producing fast foods.
Conclusion
Fast food leads to obesity from which arises other complications such as diabetes,
cardiovascular diseases and high cholesterol. This conditions contribute to mortality globally
with cardiovascular diseases for example accounting to 31% of deaths globally. This deprives the
countries of energetic people who would contribute towards the growth of economy of their
respective countries. Furthermore, the countries spend so much towards treating conditions that
arise as a result of consuming fast foods. Therefore, there is the need for relevant stakeholders to

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come up with effective strategies to bar access to fast food such as restricting advertisement of
the food both on social media and television networks.

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References
Boyland, E. J., Nolan, S., Kelly, B., Tudur-Smith, C., Jones, A., Halford, J. C., &
Robinson, E. (2016). Advertising as a cue to consume: a systematic review and meta-
analysis of the effects of acute exposure to unhealthy food and nonalcoholic beverage
advertising on intake in children and adults. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,
103(2), 519-533. doi:10.3945/ajcn.115.120022
Chowdhury, M. R., Haque Subho, M. R., Rahman, M. M., Islam, S., & Chaki, D. (2018).
Impact of Fast Food Consumption on Health: A Study on University Students of
Bangladesh. 2018 21st International Conference of Computer and Information
Technology (ICCIT). doi:10.1109/iccitechn.2018.8631962
Cobb, L. K., Appel, L. J., Franco, M., Jones-Smith, J. C., Nur, A., & Anderson, C. A. (2015).
The relationship of the local food environment with obesity: A systematic review of
methods, study quality, and results. Obesity, 23(7), 1331-1344.
doi:10.1002/oby.21118
Fulkerson, J. A. (2018). Fast food in the diet: Implications and solutions for families.
Physiology & Behavior, 193, 252-256. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.04.005
Shah, T. (2014). Assessment of Obesity, Overweight and Its Association with the Fast Food
Consumption in Medical Students. JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND DIAGNOSTIC
RESEARCH. doi:10.7860/jcdr/2014/7908.4351
Wang, Y., Wang, L., Xue, H., & Qu, W. (2016). A Review of the Growth of the Fast Food
Industry in China and Its Potential Impact on Obesity. International Journal of
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