Obesity blog #6

In the USA obesity is one of the largest health problems. The problem of obesity affects not only adults but the children as well. According to the documentary License to kill 6 million children are seriously overweight. Most children are addicted to bad food and bad eating habits that lead them to obesity and other health problems. There are three main contributing factors to children’s bad food choices. The first factor is that processed unhealthy food is more economical for parents. The second factor is that unhealthy food is easy to obtain and is more convenient than making a homemade meal.  The final factor is the way media influences children’s food choices.

Families that are struggling financially tend to buy inexpensive food which in most instances is unhealthy. Most low income families tend to   the less expensive food. It is cheaper to buy a gallon of soda than to buy a gallon of juice. It is also cheaper to buy processed food that is quick to make, such as macaroni n cheese, cup of noodles, chicken noodle soup, and other such food, than to buy different ingredients, such as meat and fresh vegetables, to make a healthy homemade meal. For most families that have a low income they need to feed their children so they tend to by what is in expensive which unhealthy food is.

            Unhealthy food is easy to obtain and to prepare for parent. In most ever store, liquor, vending machine and ice cream trucks all they sell is unhealthy processed food. In most these shops they do not sell any fresh foods or anything that is healthy. There are very few organic food stores. Many parents don’t have the time to go shopping for healthy food. Let alone make healthy food. It is more convenient for parents to go to the drive through of any fast food restaurant. They don’t have to spend time cooking a homemade meal. Parents also tend to buy food that is quick n easy to make. Most parents buy food that is prepared by adding water n microwaving it. That type of food is not healthy. Over time eating this type of food will cause a bad effect in the health of these children.

The Media influences children especially when it comes to food products. Peter Jennings in the documentary how to get fat without really trying says that big companies lobby advertisement of unhealthy food products to children. There are no laws that restrict food advertising in the USA. As a result children are exposed to unhealthy food that is that is advertise just for children. On T.V products are advertised to children by appealing to what they want. For example, Mc Donald’s in there commercial used characters from Ice Age, a Disney movie for children. It showed a little boy opening a happy meal box and getting a character toy from the movie. Most children will want to buy a happy meal because of the advertising. There are many fast food restaurants that use similar advertising that appeals to children. Further more in regards to food we buy at the grocery store uses advertising that appeals to children as well. When we go to a store most food products use characters that are popular among kids to appeal to them. I took my little sister to go buy some food from the store. We walked through the aisles and she stopped and grabbed a box of Cheezets. I asked her why she wanted them if she didn’t like to eat them. She replied “because they are SpongeBob Cheezits”. The simple character form a cartoon was the reason my little sister ate something she didn’t like.

Overall unhealthy food is a big problem that causes many problems for those that are care for the most which are children. There are many reasons they are exposed to dead process food.  Lack of money and the time to invest in healthier alternative of food and advertisement that makes children want to buy unhealthy food are just some of the factors. The point is that children are vulnerable and easily influenced. Children need to be guided in the right direction of healthy eating habits. Children’s addiction to processed food as a result of lack of money, convenience, and media influence, is a lethal weapon that leads to the deadly disease of obesity.