Andie Passi

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Professor Campbell
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UWRT 1103
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21 April 2015
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Childhood Obesity: Are Fast Food Restaurants to Blame?

Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic in the United States. According to the

Centers for Disease Control, children above the 85th but below the 95th percentile are
considered at risk for overweight and those at or above the age-and sex-specific 95th percentile
are considered overweight(Jolliffe). Over the past thirty years, obesity has more than tripled
leaving an estimated 300,000 deaths per year attributed to it (HHS). Professionals have seen a
strong correlation between obese children and increased portion size, lack of daily physical
activity, and limited access to healthy food (CDC). Not to mention, those are the three most
talked about ideas that are known to blame for this epidemic. What Americans do not realize is
that there are other, less talked about factors that have shown to have a positive correlation with
this trend and could potentially be a major cause to the problem. .
Fast food industries have been targeting to children ever since advertising has been
around. Within the last ten years, this has only increased. In fact, according to the Preventative
Institute, the fast food industry spends more than $5 million every day marketing unhealthy
foods to children. After everything considered, this amounts to a total of $2 billion per year
purely marketing to children (Prevention Institute). Needless to say, 98 percent of food

advertisements viewed by children are for products that are high in fat, sugar, or
sodium (Prevention Institute). That is nearly all of advertising which is now not only shown on
television but also on the radio, the internet, and even applications on cell phones and tablets. If
fast food advertising for unhealthy food choices is not eliminated, this rapidly growing epidemic
will only continue to grow.
Advertising is found everywhere. Whether at home or out in public, televisions can be
found pretty much anywhere. Not to mention, 98% of US households with children eight years
and younger have a television in the home (Tech Addiction). With this being said, children have
access to television whenever necessary. In fact, a study done by the University of Michigan
found that children who regularly watched television commercials consumed more junk food,
and had a distorted view of healthy portion sizes and choices, than households where commercial
free television was viewed (Smith). Since a large majority of children do spend many hours
watching television, this affects a great amount of people. Not to mention, it is said that on
average a child sees over ten food-related advertisements every day (Prevention Institution).
This means that every time the television is on, a child is seeing some sort of advertisement for
unhealthy food.
With the increase of technology, children are now not only seeing advertisements on
the televisions but on iPads, tablets, cell phones, and the internet. To add on to the growing issue,
social media has taken advertising to a whole other level. According to reporter Isabelle Taft, it is
said that social media advertising has proved particularly effective at engaging children
because the ads are interactive and spread through networking platforms (Taft). In this day and
age this is dangerous due to the amount of children that do have some sort of social media

account. To make matters worse, fast food companies spend several billion dollars every year
making these advertisements as eye-catching as possible. Even though people are aware of the
effects of unhealthy eating, fast food companies continue to advertise in very persuasive ways.
Not only this, but nine times out of ten, their advertising tactics are targeting to young children.
Still, some professionals argue that these fast food advertisements are not the problem.
Since children are not of age to drive a vehicle, it is up to their parents to allow them to eat these
unhealthy food choices. Journalist Andrew Christopher argues that this approach undermines
the necessity for individuals and families to develop their own ways of controlling their eating
habits (The Age). With that being said, although parents do have responsibility, not all parents
are going to be able to eliminate this problem. Fast food is so popular because of how quick it is
served and how very inexpensive it is. With the continuation of these advertisements, children
will only be more influenced to order those unhealthy, high caloric items shown in the
advertisements rather than the salads that are hidden in the corner of the menu.
One of the growing obstacles facing the solution to juvenile obesity is that fast food
companies are being shady with their ways of advertising. For example, McDonalds along with
many other fast food restaurants, advertise that with each kids meal purchased, there will be a
free toy inside. This alone is an incentive for children to choose their kids meal. Kids are driven
by toys. A child is more likely to want a meal with a toy inside than a salad that comes with no
toy. But it doesnt end there. McDonalds has even taken their approach farther by creating an
interactive website which allows children to play games and take surveys on their favorite food
choices. In addition to toys, children also love websites and games. By having a website,
McDonalds is only drawing in more children and making them believe that McDonalds is a

good, friendly restaurant.

Making the issue worse, journalist Jill Richardson states that children of a young age
cannot distinguish between commercials and program content (Richardson). This makes it
difficult for children to understand that companies would be advertising something bad to them.
By McDonalds having all the advertising techniques it has, the company is able to make
children believe they are a friendly, good-tasting, food company. Even with the support of
responsible parents, it is shown that one out of three fast food trips occurs due to a childs
nagging (Richardson). Normal parents everywhere struggle with the same issue. For example,
Patrick, a typical father, says he pulled the plug on his television..to shield his two daughters
from advertising but this has not solved the problem (Richardson). Parents who do take
responsibility still deal with the same wrath of these advertisements. No matter how controlled
ones home environment is, anytime a child enters the pubic, they are bound to see some sort of
advertising for a fast food company.
Opposers of banning fast food advertising say that even though children nag and are
taken to the fast food restaurants, parents still have control of their food choices. Some claim that
obesity is caused by someone else's actions rather than being a personal responsibility (The
Age). In other words, parents are in control of every choice their child makes and they have the
final call of what their children consume. The fact of the matter is that even what appears to be
the most healthy choice at a restaurant could be even more unhealthy than the Big Mac shown on
television. For example, the McDonalds caesar salad contains 425 calories and 21.4 grams of
fat. (Gusmaroli). This is 200 more calories than the standard burger at McDonalds and about
three times as much fat. Even items such as the grilled chicken sandwich that could be healthy at

a normal restaurant, has 540 calories and over 20 grams of fat. This just goes to show that what
appears to be a healthy choice can, in turn, be worse than what is known to be unhealthy. The
bottom line is advertising to these unhealthy restaurants is only drawing more customers in, and
with an overall unhealthy menu, it becomes difficult to make healthy food choices at these
restaurants.
With the adverse effects of obesity, this epidemic must be eradicated. This issue is not
only causing problems in this day and age, but also fifty years from now. With the increase of
childhood obesity comes the increase in heart disease, cancer, and diabetes (Wootan). Eating
fast food on a regular basis doubles ones risk of developing insulin resistance which heightens
the risk of type 2 diabetes (Lee). Journalist Matthew Lee also adds that the number of people
worldwide living with diabetes has more than doubled since 1980, from 153 million then to
nearly 350 million in 2011 (Lee). Advertising to these companies is only causing more harm
than not. Not only are children suffering from the effects of the unhealthy food items, but the
government is also being hit hard. An estimated $2 billion a year is being spent towards these
advertisements. In addition to this, in the United States government, alone, spent over $300
billion due to the amount of obesity related disease and illness from 2014.
Aside from the expenses of diseases caused by obesity, treatment is also a whole other
factor. Although it is possible to control weight by frequent exercise and a healthy diet, experts
say this will not solve the problem for people who are obese. According to the American Journal
of Roentgenology, Surgical weight loss has been advocated as the only treatment shown to
achieve durable weight loss in the obese patient. (Choudhary) On top of all the expenses of
nutritionists, clinicians, and doctors, these people would have to pay for surgery in order to get

back to a healthy weight. Some professionals say that if this trend continues to grow and changes
are not made in areas such as fast food advertising, it is expected that the obesity rate could
possibly reach 50 percent by 2030 (TFAH).
Still, people question whether or not fast food advertising is actually a large enough
issue to be concerned about. They argue that since 2012, TV ads viewed by older children had
declined 10% (Yale Rudd Center). Although this decline may apply to the older children, still,
young children face the most issues concerning these advertisements. A reason the correlation
between these advertisements and older children has decreased is that at an older age, children
start to gain knowledge about the difference between advertisements and television programs.
This is not the case for young children, though. Most children under eight years old do not yet
have the ability to distinguish between advertising and their everyday television shows,
therefore, they are left with a greater effect from the advertisements and a lack of knowledge
pertaining to the advertisements.
Another ongoing issue with these fast food companies is the availability of the food
items. People are being affected by these companies just about anytime they step foot into a car.
Often times, families take road trips to go on vacation. Children become restless in the car and
after a long car ride need something to eat. There is a good chance that at every highway exit,
there will be a fast food restaurant. Since these companies spend so much time and money on
advertising, people are more than likely going to choose a restaurant they have heard of rather
than a random bar on the side of the highway. In addition to this, a study conducted by
researchers Janet Currie and Stefano DellaVigna, says that proximity to fast food significantly
increases the risk of obesity. Their researched showed that having a fast food restaurant within

0.10 miles of school increases the probability of obesity by 1.7 percentage points, or 5.2 percent.
(NBER) With the amount of fast food restaurants in the United States, the majority of the
population is located within 3 miles of one. Many people have access to these restaurants and
with the amount of advertisements that are shown for them, people end up choosing the
restaurants they have heard of instead of random, less talked about places.
Although it is well known that there are many fast food restaurants located in the
United States, many argue the availability of the restaurants is not the problem. They argue that if
people would like to eat healthier, they would chose the healthier options rather than the fast
food companies they hear about in the media. Although this may apply to some people,
according to a survey by food research firm Technomic, 47% of Americans say they want
healthier restaurant options, but only about 23% actually order them. (Melnick) This shows that
there is a certain group of people that will turn to the healthier option, but almost a quarter of
those people end up choosing a food place base on their impulse decision rather than whats best
for them. More times than not, the only options on the highway turn out to be fast food
restaurants which only makes decisions more difficult when deciding what to eat.
In 2012 alone, a staggering 16-18% of children were obese (Schwarz). Looking at the
bigger picture, over the last thirty years, the percentage of the juvenile population designated as
obese has more than tripled (Thompson, CDC). Not to mention, these numbers are still growing
rapidly. Companies and families all around the world have tried taking actions to reverse this
trend, but nothing has been enough to put an end to it. With the elimination of fast food
advertisements targeted towards young children, this trend could potentially be eradicated.
Nearly all fast food advertisements are targeted to children, being aired on channels such as

Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Disney XD, and Nicktoons (Bernhardt AM). Children are
bound to see some sort of advertisement whenever the television is turned on. In addition to the
large amount of advertisements shown, images of food packaging are present in 88 percent of
advertisements aimed at children, compared with 23 percent of advertisements targeting
adults (Bernhardt). Not only are the advertisements aired on many children channels but in
almost all of them children can see the image of what appears to be a good-tasting item. Since
98% of these fast food advertisements are showing unhealthy menu items, advertising for fast
food companies should be completely eliminated.
Obesity and overweight together are the second leading cause of preventable death in
the United States (National Institution of Health). With this epidemic only increasing, billions
of dollars per year should not be going towards something that persuades children to continue
bad eating habits. Rather than promoting food items that will increase this issue, fast food
companies should, instead, be finding ways to prevent the spread of this on going problem. The
outcome of this epidemic is not promising, resulting in neurological, vascular, and respiratory
disorders. Not to mention, health care costs are only rising because of the number of people with
obesity that seek help from doctors.
People continue to spend money left and right trying to end the problem but fast food
companies only continue to spend millions every year, supporting the problem. It is said that
more than 300,000 deaths per year are due to the obesity epidemic and with the continuation of
the trend, by 2025, it is estimated that this number will only double (National Institution of
Health). Fast food advertising needs to be eliminated in order to help reverse and potentially
eradicate this on-going epidemic that the United States has severely suffered from.

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