Introduction:

Today, there are over thousands and millions of a same type of place that ruins your health severely around the world. These things are called fast food restaurants and almost everybody in the world visits it at least ten times in their lifetime. Fast food restaurants are not good for your body and you do not get a lot of energy obtained from it. There are also foods that are easy to serve yet can ruin your health also. These things are called junk foods. Fast foods and junk foods are almost the same; they are convenient yet can cause diseases in your health.

This research paper aims to identify the casual effect of eating junk foods or fast foods on our health. How it contributes in the rising rate of diseases, who are the greatest consumers, why are they consuming this product and how can we prevent the said problem are also included in this paper.

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I. Junk foods and Fast foods

It seems harmless, satisfies your hunger, and is cheap, but really is egregiously unhealthy. The fast food industry is very smart; they have many sly business strategies to make money. They target children and students and make millions of dollars in profit. Each and every day people choose to eat at fast food restaurants because it quick, especially for people with jobs and are always in a hurry, and because its delicious; but many do not know the truth behind it and the harmful effects that contributes to eating fast food continuously. Fast food is made of low quality ingredients and consists mainly of sugar, fat, high calories, and high sodium. Fast food causes obesity and nothing is being done to stop this major issue in our country right now. Some fast food chains are: McDonalds, Jollibee, Wendys, and KFC. The list could go on and on which is the problem, fast food restaurants are everywhere! When its dark outside and you are driving home from work and you see the big flashy fast food restaurant signs, the temptation never ends, the business techniques are very cunning and fast food can become addicting so its important to always be cautious of why fast food is bad, the effects.1

The term junk food itself defines to the foods that do no good to your body and they are completely unimportant to the body. Junk foods have no or very less nutritional value and irrespective of the way they are marketed, they are not healthy to consume. They are deemed to be trash foods as they are high in fat, sodium and sugar. The apparent effect of junk food can lead to obesity and a range of attendant health problems, including diabetes,

Andrew F. Smith, Fast Food and Junk Food: An Encyclopedia of What We Love to Eat, Volume 1 (California: ABC-CLIO, Dec. 31, 2011), p. 5.

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heart disease and arthritis. Majority of junk food choices do not deliver beneficial nutritional values.2

The only reason of their gaining popularity and increased trend of consumption is that they are ready to eat or easy to cook foods.

Also the ease of manufacturing and consumption makes the junk food market spread its influence so rapidly. People, of all age groups are moving towards junk food as it is hassle free and often ready to grab and eat.

Soft drinks, chips, wafers, noodles, pizza, burgers, French fries etc. are few examples from the vast variety of fast food available in the market.

Before delving into the positive and negative aspects of fast food, it seems appropriate if we discuss the reasons of fast food popularity. The question is what compels the Filipinos to eat such poorly balanced food? The answer of the question is not simple and involves many factors. First of all, every culture has its own values, philosophies, and the way to react to the things occurring in their lives. These reactions depend upon the culture they belong too. In present family structure and busy life it has been observed that the increasing communication deficit between parents and children has created a gulf

Ibid., p. 9.

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between parents and children. This changed life style, especially in low-income and single-parent families, has compelled the children to take unhealthy and junk food more often than required.

Advertising also played a major role in increasing the fast food popularity in America. According to National Cancer Institute, Commercial advertisers have learned that a consistent and prominent presence in the marketplace is key to achieving and holding market share (National Cancer Institute, 2000). Statistics revealed that in 2004 the total expenditure of different food items including fast food restaurants was approximately Php 484 trillion.

Fast food advertisers target ethnic minorities directly through their own media outlets and programs. Food items which are advertised for ethnic minorities are usually unbalanced and unhealthy as compared to the food advertised for general audience. Research conducted in 2005 depicted that more than 52 percent of food items advertisement published in Hispanic fashion and social magazines were advertised unhealthy and unbalanced food as compared to 29 percent such advertisements published in general magazines.3

Fast food items advertising usually target children in order to create and establish brand loyalty at an early age. Among the six brands which have enjoyed very strong recognition in children, four are related to food, i.e. Cheerios, McDonalds, Pop-Tarts, and Coke. These companies relied on the fact that the children would emotionally connected to these companies even in their adulthood.

Michael Moss, Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us (Germany: Random House LLC, Feb 26, 2013 ), p. 6.

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Nevertheless, recent research shows that consumers prefer to buy fast food from supermarkets. Because they have the perception that supermarkets provide healthier food options . Advertising and marketing very significantly influence the buying behavior of people and the notion cannot be rejected in totality that frequent use of this unhealthy food is a major cause of increasing obesity. According to a study, television advertisements and television viewing is directly associated with popularity of junk food.

List of junk foods

Fried food, chips Many foods include artificial flavour, artificial colouring, emulsifier, stabilizer, and chemicals to prevent going the food rancid. Any one of these is bad enough to begin with and it goes without saying that eating all of these at once is extremely bad for health. These foods throw body off balance and lead to addiction and overeating. Fried foods and other foods cooked with high heat are not as good as food that has been steamed or boiled because it makes carbohydrate molecule smaller and brittle which cause shock in the digestive and hormonal system at least to some degree, which is also one of the major cause of diabetes.4

Fast food, Factory manufactured Cheese, Butter, Ham, and Sausage There are two major problems with fast food, such as hamburgers, chicken, fries etc. They contain too much fat. So much that it contains as much as 82% of fat in a serving when compared to a recommended serving. The frying batters contain artificial coloring which can be extremely harmful to mental and physical health. There is more than what is in the battering mix because conventional meat and chicken already contains artificial coloring in order to make their flesh look more appealing.

Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson, Chew on this: Everything You Don't Want to Know about Fast Food (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007), p. 13.

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So even if you buy chicken or meat at supermarket and make your own batter and fry in no trans-fat oil, you still get food additives.5

Candy, Chocolate, Gum, Ice Cream The basis of candy is refined white sugar and maltose. Soft candy has emulsifier and fully hydrogenated oil. When this basic process is finished, acidulant, artificial flavor enhancer, synthetic perfume, artificial coloring, and others are added. Most of these food additives and artificial food coloring cause problem with biological functions, neurotransmission functions, and brain functions causing attention deficit and behavioral problems.6

Gum and ice cream is made out of 70% refined sugar. Rest 30% is made out of additives.

Chocolate in Cookies and Chocolate Bars There is very little real chocolate in chocolate bars and chocolate cookies. The little chocolate in it is mixed with partially hydrogenated byproduct. Due to hydrogenation process of chocolate, mixed with other oils, there will be large amount of Trans fat in chocolate bar and chips. Some of these cookies have soft centers but do not spoil in room temperature for weeks and months because more than 90% of it is made out of refined sugar so that microorganisms cannot grow on them.7

Milk, soft drink, and other types of drink If you choose plain soda over a coke, because you heard that coke is bad, thats like going into a wolves den in order to avoid a tiger. Most soda has caffeine and it is addictive. Drinks like red bull have 15 Times of caffeine than coffee but it

Ibid. Ibid., p. 14. Ibid.

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also has sodium benzoate acid. Sodium benzoate acid, when experimented with dogs, injected 1gm per 1kg body per day lead inability in motors, gave seizures, and lead to death in 250 days. Also average soda has at least 3 tables spoons of refined sugar in each cans.8

II. Effects of Junk food and Fast foods

A. Advantages of using fast food

The basic and most obvious advantage of fast food is its cost and speed. Fast food is very easy and quick to prepare and serve. As discussed above, the number of single parent household is continuously increasing in United States. Such single parents not only have to work to earn a respectable living but also have to prepare food for the family. For such persons fast food is an easy and cost effective solution. Fast food not only prepared at home easily but can also be ordered from fast food restaurants which usually have special offers and deals available to make it cheaper or more cost effective.

B. Disadvantages of using fast foods

Though fast foods are fast, and much convenient than cooking foods, we still cant deny the fact that these foods can be harmful to us. Some of the disadvantages of fast foods and junk foods are:

1. Health
We all love a bit of cake but why ever wondered why? Junk foods are foods that are high in fat and sugar providing no real nutritional value. They just fill the stomach and stop hunger temporarily. You will end up easily getting exhausted by being a junk food fanatic because it doesnt balance the appropriate levels of energy you ought to have, not just that, you will also have tendencies of craving for more food when you eat junk.

Ibid., p. 15.

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Junk foods increase the risks of Breast and Prostate cancer. Another problem with junk foods is that theyre low in satiation value that is, people dont tend to feel as full when they eat them which can lead to overeating. Another problem is that junk food tends to replace other, more nutritious foods. When people drink lots of soda, for example, they are usually not getting plenty of low-fat dairy or other healthful beverages like green tea or orange juice. When theyre snacking on crisps and cookies, theyre usually not loading up on fruits and vegetables.

Its crucial to remember that a food craving is not simply hunger

Hunger is the bodys way of making sure it is provided with energy, in the form of nutrients from food. When the stomach is empty, it releases the hormone ghrelin, which communicates with the brains command center, the hypothalamus. This creates the feeling of hunger and is how we know when to eat. Satiation is signaled by the release of the hormones leptin by fat cells, and insulin by the pancreas, in response to increased blood sugar. Cravings, however, are much more complex. Those who are starving will eat literally anything - even foods they do not enjoy - to stay alive. Cravings, on the other hand, are an overwhelming sensation of desire for a certain food. There are a number of chemicals in the brain that are associated with this.

Firstly, there is dopamine, a brain chemical that is involved in learning and concentration. When we see or experience something new, dopamine is released in the brain. This works in tandem with other brain chemicals called opioids, which give us feelings of enjoyment and pleasure. The combination of these two factors mean that the brain associates certain activities with pleasure, and it teaches us to do them again and again.9

Tina Volpe, The Fast Food Craze: Wreaking Havoc On Our Bodies And Our Animals (California: Canyon Publishing, LLC, 2005), p. 34

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We are programmed to enjoy eating fatty and sugary substances, and our brains tell us to seek them out.

We crave reward foods. The pattern for this is partially set in childhood when parents give us sweet food to show love or reward. Cravings are a psychological need for high-fat and highsugar foods which taste pleasant but which should, of course, form only a small part of our daily intake. Chocolate melts at body temperature which gives a pleasant sensation, and fat and sugar further increase the sensory appeal. However as much as you enjoy it, the more of a negative it is having on your body.10

The Ill effects of Junk Food

Lack of energy: Junk foods do not contain any nutrients that are beneficial to the human body. In most cases, these foods are filled with harmful carbohydrates, fats and cholesterol that do not provide much useful energy, you will experience lack of oxygen (difficult to tell) which will eventually result in poor brain functioning.

Salt Sodium is an essential constituent of salt and hence, consuming too much of it can contribute to high blood pressure, water retention and obesity. Lowering salt intake to recommended levels could reduce the incidence of strokes by almost thirty percent.

Calories Calories measure the amount of energy that we derive from food. The calories consumed in a fast food meal can be disastrous for our health. It is not uncommon for a single fast food meal to have the equivalent of an entire or even two days worth of calories. Kids need

10

Ibid., p. 35.

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two thousand calories per day, while adults require even less. Unless your energy output is more than your intake, you are bound to increase your body weight.

Sexual Dysfunction What we eat affects our physical, mental, and sexual health. Fatty acids found in fast foods are a major contributor to sexual dysfunction; it can trigger biochemical changes which effect libido, sperm count and female ovulation.

Trans fat that can cause heart disease, arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), liver cancer, stomach cancer, colon-rectal cancer (large intestine cancer), and diabetes.

Saturated Fats And Trans Fats These fats typically take a solid form at room temperature so in the long run will affect your body. The processed food used in the fast food industry is loaded with trans-fats, which not only increases the bad cholesterol (Low Density Lipoprotein) levels but also reduces the good cholesterol (High Density Lipoprotein) levels and then stored under your skin thus making you look really saggy and chubby.

With all the overdose of fats, oils and calories, the liver gets burdened as it has to incessantly work overtime to break them down therefore leaving you with a weaker liver for when you are old. If theres too much plaque in the arteries, the heart has to assert more effort in pumping blood which may cause you to be in fatigue and cause strokes. The excess amount of cholesterol in your body can destroy the liver as well.

Depression Fast foods do not contain antioxidants, foliate and omega -3s which is necessary for good mental health. Fast foods contain preservatives, emulsifiers, thickeners, stabilizers and flavor enhancers which can affect the mental well-being of the person. One theory is that if we dont digest or absorb foods properly, we desire them more as the body

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isnt getting what it needs from the food.

2. Family
One social disadvantage of fast food is breakdown of a family. Preparing and eating dinner together is a communicating time of a family which strengthens the bond of love between them. Fast food promotes eating on the run which shorten the time spent on dinner table and ultimately weakens the bond and chord of love between different family members.

3. Environment
It has also been blamed that fast food restaurants actively contribute in the environmental pollution. People say that fast food restaurant consume approximately 16 pounds of grains and 2,500 gallons of water to prepare one pound of hamburger. Thus, lot of natural resources is utilized to prepare fast food which ultimately creates food and natural resources shortage in different parts of the world.11

11

Schlosser, Chew on this, p. 20.

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III. Consumers

Many people eat junk food because it tastes so good. Everyone knows its unhealthy for them to eat it but junk food was made to stimulate your taste buds and makes you want more. Even though junk food has no nutritional value its mostly just for the taste and they dont want to cook. Your body needs fat in its system but not as much as most people eat it. So the main reason people eat so much junk food is because it opens your appetite making you want more. Its cheap Compared with other restaurants, fast food is extremely cheap. For those not looking to spend much money, fast food is often seen as a good choice. It Tastes Good Fast food is usually packed with fats and sugar, making it taste good. This is also the reason why fast food is so unhealthy. Its an Easy and fast way to eat With fast food restaurants located just about everywhere, it is extremely easy to buy some. I Cant Cook or dont want too At least they have to try we got so many nice product on the groceries shelf, with all those bright colors and its a reason to start cooking its so tentative.

The main reasons people eat fast foods are:

1.

Economically priced food: The way fast food chains keep their prices relatively low

is by producing their food on a large scale. This reduces the cost of purchasing and preparing the food, and means that they can afford to charge relatively-low prices and they still make good profit. 2. Speed and efficiency of service: fast food restaurants are able to provide warm

meals very quickly without encountering a significant loss through wastage. The idea of being

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able to order at a counter, receive your meal within seconds, and not have to worry about waiting to be seated, served means that fast food restaurants are often the first choice for many diners who are in a rush. 3. Brand familiarity: Fast food companies have built an industry of making sure they

are what we know through aggressive advertising and marketing strategies. Essentially, knowing what youre going to get from a fast food brand means you are more likely to pick them over a competitor you dont know anything about. 4. Representative of popular cuisine: From a customers point of view, it is useful to

know that you can count on a fast food restaurant to provide certain things. Advantages of a fast food restaurant include; you know the menu very well, friendly environment, easily estimate the cost of a meal. Many people cant cook nor dont want to cook, so going down the street to get fast food is the easier options. While many know that junk food and fast food are associated with an increase in obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, tooth decay, and other diseases, and that vegetables and fruit are what they should eat, the popularity of fast food still grow. These salty snack foods, candy, gum, sugary desserts, fried fast food, and carbonated beverages are some of the popular food groups within this category. Generally, those products contain a minimal amount of protein, vitamins, minerals, fibber and lots of calories from sugar or fat.12

Paula Johanson, Fake Foods: Fried, Fast, and Processed: The Incredibly Disgusting Story (New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Jan 15, 2011), p. 34.

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Most people understand the fundamentals of a healthy diet, which includes plenty of vegetables, fruit, fish, chicken and some lean meat. Unfortunately, many people who need to improve their diets continue to eat junk food, or food high in simple carbohydrates, preservatives, fat and salt, even though they know it is most likely harming their health.

But we need to be honest, because we got so many occasion for eating bad foods such as: Life habits and traditions. Many people associate a trip to the movies with a bucket of buttered popcorn and a big soft drink. Most people eat chips with sandwiches instead of some raw vegetables. And we cant pass those special occasions like thanksgiving; Halloween, birthdays, and Christmas they are all excuses for eating so many junk foods. We got several examples of associating unhealthy food with a healthier food in those special events. Without healthy options, most people will continue to eat junk foods.

Comfort is another reason people continue to eat junk food. Foods high in carbohydrates, salt, sugar, or full of fat are good and they feel satisfies. After a hard day, many people settle down with a bag of chips, cookies, frozen dinner or can food, etc. All of these foods taste good and can make people feel better in the short term, but the long term effects can be severe.

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IV. Presentation and Analysis of Data

Nearly 600 adults and teens in the Manila area were interviewed for the study in 2005-2006. Most reported eating fast food at least three times per week.

After tucking into a meal at a fast-food restaurant, participants rated how strongly they agreed or disagreed with 11 statements about why they like fast food.

Here are their top reasons for eating fast-food meals, according to the percentages of people who agreed with each statement:

o o o o o o o o o o o

They're quick: They're easy to get to: I like the taste of fast food: They're inexpensive: I'm too busy to cook: It's a "treat" for myself: I don't like to prepare foods myself: My friends/family like them: It is a way of socializing with friends and family: They have many nutritious foods to offer: They're fun and entertaining:

92.3% 80.1% 69.2% 63.6% 53.2% 50.1% 44.3% 41.8% 33.1% 20.6% 11.7%

The "I'm too busy to cook" line was more popular among people with college degrees than people with less education. And young adults were less likely than older adults to say they ate fast food because it offered many nutritious choices. Still, the results boil down to speed and convenience at one end of the spectrum, and nutrition and fun at the other end. Bridging that gap means coming up with speedy, nutritious alternatives.

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V. Conclusion

Eating junk foods or fast foods is not that really bad. Especially when were in those situations where in we dont have that much time to cook foods for ourselves, but just always keep on your minds that anything too much is bad for us. Still, proper diet is better than eating junk foods. So as long as you can, avoid eating too much junk foods.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cobb, Vicki. Junk Food. Minneapolis: Lerner Classroom, January 1, 2006.

Johanson, Paula. Fake Foods: Fried, Fast, and Processed: The Incredibly Disgusting Story. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Jan 15, 2011.

Moss, Micheal. Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us. Germany: Random House LLC, Feb 26, 2013.

Ritzer, George. The McDonaldization of Society 5. New York: SAGE Publications, 2008.

Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012.

Schlosser, Eric and Charles Wilson. Chew on this: Everything You Don't Want to Know about Fast Food. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007.

Smith, Andrew F. Encyclopedia of Junk Food and Fast Food. California: Greenwood Publishing Group, Jan 1, 2006.

Smith, Andrew F. Fast Food and Junk Food: An Encyclopedia of What We Love to Eat, Volume 1. California: ABC-CLIO, Dec 31, 2011.

Spitznagel, Eric. The Junk Food Companion: The Complete Guide to Eating Badly. New York: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated, May 31, 1999

Volpe, Tina. The Fast Food Craze: Wreaking Havoc On Our Bodies And Our Animals. California: Canyon Publishing, LLC, 2005.

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