Fast Food Causes Obesity: Obese Overweight Children
Childhood Obesity Facts
Fast food causes obesity because fast food is fattening and it is addicting. Just eating a simple cheeseburger and large fry at McDonalds amounts to about 1,035 calories. This is half of the daily calories needed for a sedentary person!
A sedentary person on the average needs about 2,200 calories. Can you see why eating out at fast food would cause weight gain? And then we wonder why America is so fat! Yikes, it’s the culture.
Fast Food Causes Obesity in Young Children
One health concern for our youth is obesity because obesity often leads to other health issues. More and more young people are fat. Why is that? And what can be done about it?
Childhood obesity starts because of dietary guidelines absent from homes and society in general. America enables fatness! Poor eating habits, unhealthy food choices, and encouraging fast food restaurant eating is what leads up to fat children in this culture.
It used to be, not too long ago, there was more wholesome cooking going on in the home. Children were brought up to eat their vegetables and there was more healthy snack food eating. Now a days most people indulge themselves with fattening junk foods, and this is the example we are showing our toddlers.
If parents are going to fast food on a regular basis, then we shouldn’t be surprised to see more and more teenagers and young adults frequenting fast food when they get older.
Food addiction can be considered eating in fast food establishments on a regular basis. Greasy and sugary foods send signals to the brain making a person crave more of this type of food. It is a vicious cycle.
In fact, the more unhealthy a diet is, the harder it will be to break that diet and begin eating naturally. The obesity epidemic in this country is growing by leaps and bounds. You can make a difference by NOT enabling this unhealthy behavior for yourself and for your own family.
Fast Food Causes Obesity in Teenagers
Once the overweight child grows into a teenager, they may be obese and diabetic if eating habits don’t change. The obese or overweight teenager may go on diet after diet only to become frustrated, which begins the emotional binge eating on the wrong foods.
Nutritionally speaking, overweight teens haven’t learned what good eating patterns and healthy foods are. And that’s the problem!
Sadly, unless he or she gets nutritional support counseling, they will continue to feel helpless, alone and possibly with an unhealthy body image of themselves. This is not right. This is the main cause of many eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Don’t let this happen to your overweight teenager.
Fast Food Causes Obesity and Should Not Be Encouraged
Eating at fast food is ok once in a while, but more than once a week is too much. And for some people once a week is too much, especially if they are obese.
If you want to eat out, it would be far better on your health to go to a full sit down restaurant and order something off the menu that offers less fattening fare. Many restaurants now cater to health conscious individuals.
If your teenagers are often dieting and are becoming increasingly frustrated, then it is time for you both to visit with a nutritionist. This will arm them with the knowledge needed to eat a good daily diet without the disappointments that often come with dieting. Encourage each other to eat more wholesome meals at meal times and nourishing snacks at snack times.
Cook more natural, wholesome fare such as whole grains, beans, fish, and poultry. And introduce more raw foods like vegetables and fruits into your diet. Create delicious meals using whole foods and your teenager will ultimately lose weight.
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