Fast Food and ObesityFast food restaurants have been part of American culture for over thirty years. The convenience of fast service, cheap prices and appeal to families have been among the main strengths of fast food restaurants over the years. Additionally, fast food of the past is very different from fast food today. According to Liz Monte of Divine Caroline magazine, in the 1970s, obesity was up 47% (today it's up 66%). Today's burgers have gotten bigger due to more chemicals and steroids being injected into the meats, sodas have even gotten bigger, leading to higher rates of heart disease, taking excess weight and increased rates of obesity in children and adults. (See fig.1. p.5) Prices were also set to sell more products; for example, the dollar menu at McDonalds offers double cheese burgers for a dollar, which alone is between 500 and 550 calories. Due to misleading nutritional data, fast food restaurants should be required to warn their customers about the risk of eating excessive amounts of fast food. Janelle Stanish of Student Pulse wrote an article titled America's Obesity Epidemic...The Responsibility of Big Food Industries (2010). ). Stanish argues that it is because fast food restaurants mislead their customers by not including full nutritional facts on the menu that they are responsible for the increasing number of people who are becoming obese. As we've seen over the year, people are now suing these big companies because of their misleading facts. One case is that of the large cereal company Kellogg's, which was sued for false advertising that its products were healthier than others, but these large food manufacturers are arguing that consumers should be. . middle of paper ... this is why the obesity epidemic has increased at a rapid rate over the past thirty years, and the number of fast food restaurants has tripled. Today, consumers have the choice between different options: not eating fast food or eating healthier products offered in these restaurants. What needs to be considered when ordering or when considering eating out is how the food is handled and processed, what chemicals and steroids the food is injected with. Fast food in the United States has become largely an integral part of American culture and if people do not make significant changes soon, the American people will continue to see: increasing rates of obesity, heart problems, excessive weight gain and a list of other health problems. problems.Fig.1. These are photos from Devine Caroline magazine that show how the burgers were initially smaller and grew larger over time. (Liz Monte)