How has the fast food nation reshaped our kids?
Fast food has reshaped a nation, not just its children and one of the most serious results from the fast food diet is obesity in adults and children. Though fast food chains have started creating healthier choices, there is still a lot to take under consideration concerning the fatty fried foods offered at the fast food chains. Fast food chains have targeted children as a customer base and have used ploys such as offering toys, play grounds and special cups as incentives for children to pressure mom and dad into eating at the fast food chains.
Fast food chains do offer some healthy choices in their menus in order to keep building their customer base and keep the current one happy. Parents started avoiding fast food chains with the reports from the A.M.A. that told of high cholesterol, diabetes, and childhood obesity as the leading causes of illness in children. The contributing factors at the fast food chains was the all the oils used to cook their French fries, fruit pies and other fried foods. These high cholesterol oils have since been replaced with oils that are lower in cholesterol and oxidants that clog the arteries.
Children are not always able to make the right choices in their foods that they eat without a parent present. This holds true when the kids are left to order their own food at a fast food chain. They are going to go for the French fries, grease packed burgers and fried pies. Each item alone is a calorie disaster, but together, they are true diet assassins.
Diet choices are difficult enough for adults to make and the advertising that targets our kids makes it almost impossible not to include one of the fast food chains in our regiment of restaurants we frequent. Insisting on menu choice before arriving at the restaurant is the easy way to persuade kids to make good diet choices. The more we narrow their selection down, the easier it will be for them to choose healthy foods for their meal.