The Effects of Fast Food Deserves the True Case.

How do Drive-Thrus Affect Your Health?

December 2021

Kyla Segovia

Chicken Nuggets and Quarter pounders may be tasty but can they hold an affect on your career?
Maybe not directly but the constant consumption of these items affect demanding jobs; and your
health. Avoiding the temptations of drive-thrus becomes harder when you might not have time to
get a healthy meal.

You would assume the stressful lifestyle of a detective does not take a toll on one's health. In
fact, it is more than you may think. The lifestyle in this career path during an ongoing case does
not allow for the needed healthy lifestyle. Fast food is far more accessible than healthy options
when it comes to a fast-paced lifestyle.

The lifestyle of a detective is fast-paced and dangerous. Every day detectives are on a job, and
especially in an open case, their lives can be put at risk; it's just a part of the job. Once being
promoted to detective from beat cop, you spend your days interviewing suspects, discussing your
findings with your higher up, and presenting your evidence found to a court. The higher up your
position is the more stressful and dangerous your job becomes. Moving up to homicide detective
means you will be working on crime scenes to solve murders. The mental toll the job takes on
you can affect how you care for yourself. “The 900,000 sworn law enforcement officers in the
United States have one of the most stressful occupations in the world”(House Judiciary
Committee Approves Bill to Improve Mental Health Services for Law Enforcement Officers ).
While there are resources for law enforcement officers due to “The Law Enforcement Mental
Health and Wellness Act of 2017” (House Judiciary Committee Approves Bill to Improve Mental
Health Services for Law Enforcement Officers). This doesn't mean that officers can feel the
effects of depression which can make caring for oneself much harder than it already may be.

While feeling the effects of depression, making a healthy home cooked meal may seem like a
task far too hard to complete, while going through a drive-through may seem far more
accomplishable.

Fast Food has far too many negative effects on one's body, detectives have to stay in a healthy
state and eating fast food often just doesn't allow for that. “Eating fast food two or more times a
week also increased the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 27 percent” (Lundy). If detectives
are on an ongoing case pulling into a drive through for lunch is far easier than making a healthy
lunch, and with the long hours and late nights of overtime sometimes fast food restaurants are the
only options. “People who consume fast food even once a week increase their risk of dying from
coronary heart disease by 20 percent in comparison to people who avoid fast food… The risk
increases by 50 percent for those who eat fast food two to three times each week and by 80
percent for those who eat fast food four times or more per week.” (Pereira). The more detectives
use drive-thrus the more it can negatively affect their health, which can negatively affect their
jobs. Detectives are required to stay in shape even if they are not on an ongoing case, they have
to be ready to get thrown in the field at any given moment, and consuming fast food can affect
one's ability to do so.

Staying healthy on the job is a necessity to law enforcement. While staying healthy is so
important to law enforcement it's hard to do so when most of the population don't even eat the
recommended diet to stay healthy. “But only 23.3% eat the minimum recommended amount of
five daily servings of fruits and vegetables and only 22.2% exercise for at least 30 minutes, five
times a week”(Jennifer). Diets and exercise are extremely important to one's health.
“Nutritionists say the key is cutting down on portion sizes, avoiding sugar and aiming for meals
that are rich in vegetables, fruits and whole grains and beans and light on animal
protein”(McGinley). Eating out for multiple meals a week simply does not allow for one to
follow a lifestyle recommended by nutritionists.

Fixing this issue seems easy, just don't go through drive-throughs, bring a healthy lunch; you
might think to yourself if people wanted to choose healthy options they would. You might even
say healthy options are available at fast food restaurants and to check the calorie counts. “Calorie
information on restaurant menus reduced the total amount of calories people ordered and
consumed for a meal, improved their ability to estimate calories consumed, and, perhaps most
important, affected their eating later in the day”(Roberto). Showing the calorie count on food
items at fast food restaurants will allow people to choose between their options on what is
healthiest and what is not. “however, they suggest that to maximize the effectiveness of this
policy, menus should also include a label informing individuals of the daily caloric requirements
for an average adult”(Roberto).Including a daily caloric requirement on menus can help people
to stay within their healthy limits for staying in good health.

It's not about the fact that if people wanted to consume healthier foods they would, it's the fact
that unhealthy food is what has become most available to people like detectives with fast paced
jobs. “Fast-food consumption has strong positive associations with weight gain and insulin
resistance, suggesting that fast food increases the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes”(Pereira).
While fast food restaurants may show the calorie count for their items, that does not make them
healthy or suggest that the people ordering from those restaurants should be able to find healthy
options. With fast food having such positive ties to obesity and type two diabetes, if a detective
were to begin to deal with either of these issues that would jeopardize their career path.

Along with fast food causing higher risk of obesity and type two diabetes “Only 3% of
Americans lead a healthy lifestyle that includes regular exercise and eating five or more fruits
and vegetables daily”(Jennifer). This 3% of Americans hit all four indicators of having a healthy
life, not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, eating the recommended amount of fruits and
veggies daily, and exercising for at least 30 minutes five times a week.

Police departments should offer resources for their officers to stay healthy and to help keep up
with the demands of the lifestyle. Some departments have begun having resources like this. The
Fremont police department has implemented programs such as “The Flex” program. This
program allows officers to “spend one hour during their 11- hour shift working out.” The police
department will carve out the time and provide all the equipment for these officers to take
advantage of the program.
The Fremont police department also offers a 24/7 healthy foods marketplace. In the break room
at the station if anyone forgets lunch or is in need of a snack the Fremont police offers a place for
officers to go purchase healthy food options. They said “With 24/7 access to healthy options, you
no longer have to choose between “fasting” and fast food while working a graveyard shift.”

Departments across the country should have programs like these to give their officers access to
the things they need to stay healthy. Giving them the resources and the time to stay in shape will
benefit the department, the officers, and in turn will benefit the community.

Works Cited
House Judiciary Committee Approves Bill to Improve Mental Health Services for Law
Enforcement Officers. Federal Information & News Dispatch, LLC, Washington, 2017. eLibrary,
https://explore.proquest.com/elibrary/document/1950413190?accountid=143906.

Jennifer, Corbett D. "Only 3% of Americans Lead a 'Healthy' Lifestyle." Wall Street Journal, 26
Apr 2005. eLibrary, https://explore.proquest.com/elibrary/document/398912123?
accountid=143906.

https://jobs.fremontpolice.gov/fremont-police-culture/fremont-pd-support/

Lundy, John. "Health Notes: Study Examines Health Effects of Eating Fast Food." McClatchy -
Tribune Business News, 05 Jul 2012. eLibrary,
https://explore.proquest.com/elibrary/document/1023409046?accountid=143906.

McGinley, Laurie. "The Disturbing Links between Too Much Weight and several Types of
Cancer."eLibrary, 12 Apr 2019, https://explore.proquest.com/elibrary/document/2209401436?
accountid=143906.

Pereira, Mark A., Alex I. Kartashov, and Cara B. Ebbeling. "Fast-Food Habits, Weight Gain, and
Insulin Resistance (the CARDIA Study): 15-Year Prospective Analysis." The Lancet, vol. 365,
no. 9453, 2005, pp. 36-42. eLibrary,
https://explore.proquest.com/elibrary/document/198999154?accountid=143906,
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(04)17663-0.

Roberto, Christina A., M.S., et al. "Evaluating the Impact of Menu Labeling on Food Choices
and Intake." American Journal of Public Health, vol. 100, no. 2, 2010, pp. 312-8. eLibrary,
https://explore.proquest.com/elibrary/document/215089857?accountid=143906.