How Food Affects Human Health

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Essay 3
Currently, the numbers of teenagers with poor eating habits have drastically improved as the sizes of fast food restaurants also increase. Specifically, the issue has been observed in the US where several new fast food businesses continue to emerge which produce unhealthy food products. However, the rise of unhealthy eating habits among the teenagers due to the rise in the number of fast food restaurants have led to both long-term and short-term health effects such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and heart diseases. However, the government has chipped in with some strategies intended to end the problem as it continue to affect great number of teenagers. Therefore, the work focuses on the various reasons why teenagers prefer fast food products and the possible solutions that can be adapted to eliminate it or reduce it to manageable levels.
Generally, teenagers have fixed schedules of balancing their school work and attending to other activities such as connecting with friends and going for physical exercises. The fixed schedules give them less time to spend with their families or parents and as such will end up eating in fast food restaurants. Further, there are several fast food restaurants around the learning institutions where the teenagers prefer eating in instead of going for dishes prepared within the school compound (Jonsson et al. 3). Ideally, the food products at the restaurants around the schools are prepared for several people without considering their health status. Further, the workers at the restaurants have little knowledge about healthy eating and cannot advise the students but sale to them whatever they order. Hence, the issue of unhealthy eating habits among the youths because of their fixed schedules which give them little time to stay with their parents is a serious health problem. However, some people argue that restaurants offer a variety of meals and it is upon the students to choose what to eat, but that does not hold because the teenagers have little knowledge about how to balance their meals.
Another reason why the issue is of great concern is that teenagers do adapt bad eating habits to achieve their desired body weight. Male teenagers prefer masculine bodies, especially those who love to engage in a lot of physical exercises. Therefore, male teenagers prefer eating heavy foods that give them enough energy to conduct their physical exercises and achieve the masculine body that they need (Todd et al. 2316). Contrarily, female teenagers prefer small body size, and, mostly they skip their meals to reduce their body weights. Also, ladies always love eating at fast food restaurants where they mostly take drinks which have no nutritional contents. Therefore, the attainment of the required body weight is a serious health issue among the youth as they will not practice healthy eating patterns to achieve their goals. Despite the argument, some people still believe that skipping meals has nothing to do with healthy eating habits. However, the people should ensure that they eat every meal and do not skip any of them to have a healthy life and avoid any unnecessary health issues.
Similarly, the products of fast food businesses are cheaper than those of traditional restaurant. Despite the health benefits of eating at traditional restaurants that prepare healthy products than those of fast food businesses, the teenagers will still continue eating at the fast food restaurants for several reasons. First, teenagers have low income because they mostly depend on their parents or guardians for financial support. Hence, they do not have enough money to afford the products of traditional restaurants as opposed to adults with better jobs and income. Further, there is an illusion that the products of fast food restaurants are of good quality and are afforded because the divide them according to one’s money. For instance, chicken is divided into quarters which give an illusion of eating a good food at an affordable price. Therefore, the low price of fast food products is one of the reasons why the teenagers will go to such places and eat junk foods.
Notwithstanding, the convenience of accessing junk foods from fast food restaurants is also a factor that has contributed to increased rate of unhealthy eating habits among the youth. Ostensibly, the businesses that sell junk foods are available everywhere across the nation and all over the world. The presence of the businesses makes it convenient to people to visit the places and take their meals any time they feel like (Rosen et al. 371). However, the majority of people who eat at the places are the teenagers who have low income and spend most of their time from home. Hence, the convenience of the businesses that sale unhealthy food product is one factor that has led to improved health problems among the teenagers. Nevertheless, some individuals argue that the improved presence of fast food businesses has no effect on how teenagers consume the products. Moreover, they argue that the decision to consume the products depend on a person and is not influence by the presence of the restaurants. However, that does not hold as a person will likely be influenced by their friends whom they see visiting the places daily.
Finally, there is an illusion that the fast food restaurants prepare more sweet products than other food businesses. The products of fast food businesses are prepared with good tastes to attract the young people who still prefer testy products compared to healthy foods. As a result, most youths will be attracted to the restaurants where they purchase the sweet foods that they need. Moreover, some teenagers go to the fast food places because of de...