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understands that food is a cultural issue and it spends more than half a billion dollars a year promoting the McDonalds culture of eating. That culture is even penetrating public schools; places where children should be learning to make healthy lifestyle choices. Fast-food chains are now contracting with public schools to provide unhealthy, and very fattening lunches for children. In the name of profits, our children's health and vitality is being prostituted” (Vigilante and Flynn 1)!
Burger King is also one of America’s favorite fast food restaurants. It has been considered McDonalds greatest rival for many years. Despite the fact that Burger King does not have its own “Ronald McDonald”, it is still a very popular restaurant. It is also believed that Burger King is a lot healthier to eat at than McDonalds is. However, if a person goes into a Subway restaurant and grabs a napkin there is actually a fat calorie comparison between Subway’s food and Burger King’s food. Needless to say, Burger King’s food tops the fat calorie chart by a very tilted and uneven margin.
Wendy’s, another popular “fast food hit”, can also be very hazardous to one’s health. Although he recently died, the notorious Dave Thomas headed Wendy’s for many years. Thomas is not your average Ronald McDonald, but he also created a good amount of impact and influence for customers. In fact, he was actually a real person. He was in all of Wendy’s commercials and always seemed to have a new advertising quote. One of his famous quotes was “Quality is our recipe”, but by right, the food may contain a quality taste, but the aftermath effects to one’s health do not.
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“People are surrounded by trans fats (which are toxic to our body) in many of the foods they eat, but the single largest dose they are likely to get is still the seemingly innocuous “cholesterol-free” french fries from Wendy’s, Burger King, or McDonalds. McDonalds is the single largest source of these potentially fatal fries” (Vigilante and Flynn 1). The fries are what triggers people to eat at these restaurants because they are so delicious. French fries are like the all-time favorite American "munchie” and side dish to your hamburger or hotdog. All three of these restaurants are in competition of one another and their savory fries. Because of this, these restaurants are apt to establish new food products and promote advertisement, thus, forcing people to try them. Their food is very addicting for some people and it is very hard for them to draw away from it. It is almost as difficult as trying to get someone to quit smoking.
Many of fast food restaurants are open till 2 A.M., which allows people to “eat great even late”. People are prone to go out on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night and have a good time, but are likely to become quite hungry on their way home from a fun-filled evening of entertainment. These restaurants will be open to serve them an unhealthy meal, no doubt about it. “Fast food also runs on cheap labor, usually supplied by teenagers. Child labor laws that restrict work schedules are often ignored at fast-food chains. Although part-time employment can teach teenagers responsibility, teenage boys who work long hours are more likely to abuse drugs and get into trouble. They also risk getting hurt: Each year about 20,000 teenagers suffer work-related injuries, about twice the adult rate” (Zurlinden 1).
People need to refrain from eating vast amounts of fast food everyday. It will be a lot easier to cope with the aftermath if they do. Once in a while it is ok to cheat and have a fast food
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meal, but it is just too dangerous to eat at restaurants such as McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s, even Taco Bell and Kentucky Fried Chicken on a daily basis without exercise and a physically active lifestyle. “Not only is fast food dangerous to our health, but it also promotes a lifestyle and culture that is also very hazardous. Our lives are fast, frenetic and commercial. Food should be our sanctuary from the madness, not part of it” (Vigilante and Flynn 1).
The Fatal Aftermath of Fast Food Dining
Thesis Statement: Restaurants, such as McDonalds, Burger King, and Wendy’s, are amongst the top three most popular fast food restaurants in the country that can make overly consistent fast food dining a potentially severe danger to a person’s health.
Fast Food Restaurants
A. Examples
- McDonalds
- Burger King
- Wendy’s
- Overview and Descriptions
Hidden Danger Factors
- French Fries
- Competition
- Addiction
After Hours
- Open Late
- Adolescent Employment
- Drug Abuse
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Works Cited
- Fast Food’s Hidden Dangers
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By Jeffrey Zurlinden, RN, MS
- The Dangers of Fast Food!
- By Kevin Vigilante, MD and Mary Flynn, PhD
