Fast food is one of the daily topics in news, not only because of its ingredients or negative health effects, but also because of its link with obesity. There is much debate over the relation with obesity and the consumption of fast food.

Consuming more calories than one's body can burn causes weight gain. In order to be considered obese a person’s body fat is 20% or more above normal weight. Obesity is usually measured in two ways, the body mass index (BMI) and waistline measurement. The BMI is a number based on a person’s height with respect to their weight. A person is considered overweight when their BMI is between 25-29.9, and any BMI (above 30) is considered obese. If a male’s waistline is 40 inches or greater or if a female’s waistline is 35 inches or greater she/he is at risk for being obese. (combine these two sentences) (Schoenstadt)

The inequality between calories burned and calories consumed are due to many factors including: genetics, hormonal, behavioral, cultural, and environmental aspects. Environmental factors are what a person eats and how active he or she is. (www.obesityinamerica.org)

Kelly Brownell, a Yale University psychology professor says, “Genetics is what permits the problem (obesity) to occur, but the environment is what drives it,” it is a combined effort. Eating fast food, which is an environmental factor to obesity, has larger portions than the healthy recommended serving size. With large portions comes high calorie in-take which then leads to weight gain and sometimes obesity. (Schoenstadt) Now the amount of people eating at fast food restaurants are rapidly increasing. They are therefore getting accustomed to the large portion size and believing that the large size is normal. Even physicians believe the food industry, over sized portions, and lack of exercise are the main contributors to obesity. (PRNewswire)

The composition of fast food includes many saturated fats, a low quality of carbohydrates, and a high number of calories. The make-up of fast food is seen as the opposite dietary pattern that’s recommended for good health. Emphasis is also put on what isn’t in the fast foods, like fiber and healthy fat. (www.cnn.com) When an individual continues to consume a high number of calories and fails to burn them off, they increase their risk of developing fatty liver, high blood pressure, and type two diabetes. Obese children are more likely to develop a heart attack or a stroke during their teen years.

The United States Agriculture Department recently linked obesity and soft drink consumption. When soft drinks are served in school, students tend to drink soda instead of eating a healthy lunch. Since the children aren't full from the insufficient lunch, they end up eating more later during the day . (Simmonds) The Agricultural Research Service did a two non-consecutive day study on a fast food eater and a non-fast food eater. The fast food eater had a higher BMI and odds of being overweight than the non-fast food eater. The fast food eater also had lower intake levels of vitamin A and C, carotenes, calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium. (www.fastfoodnavigator.com)

In the 2007 Obesity Report, physicians came to the conclusion that obesity is the single largest public health crisis in the United States. An overwhelming 52% of physicians believe more than half of their patients are overweight. The only solution to the epidemic, according to the physicians is placing more education and awareness on the risks of obesity. When the negative effects of smoking were stressed on, the usage of tobacco decreased, so the same should be done for obesity. (PRNewswire)