The topic of my survey is regarding fast food. I wanted to know why people eat fast food and if nutritional choices have an affect on people’s mental and physical health. My hypothesis is that those who eat fast food do so due to time restrictions, convenience, and low cost. In addition, I believe that there is a correlation between eating fast food and low self-esteem, body image issues, and physical inactivity. This is important to me because I have learned through experience how food choices can have a profound effect in my life. I decided to distribute my surveys to random people in my community who go to the main mall.
Similar to thousands upon thousands of other communities, my community has an array of fast-food restaurants clustering around almost every corner. Businesses and homecooked restaurants have been replaced by the greasy smells of meat and french fries.
Their cheap prices and promotions tempt all who walk by, their change clinging to their pockets. Their millions of dollars in advertisements and marketing constantly test our will-power. Fast-food restaurants like McDonald’s food chains attract the young with jungle gyms and toys, hooking onto their customers’ taste buds and nutritional habits while they are young. Our options for healthy eating have been absorbed into tiny, spaced out locations found in small corners with portions that are smaller (and healthier) than those from fast-food restaurants. We are being completely bombarded by the wrong food choices with seemingly no alternatives.
According to Health Canada, “the proportion of obese children has tripled in the last 25 years”. They attribute this to “poor eating habits and physical inability”. In addition, obesity can increase your risk “for a wide range of health diseases and conditions including…mental health problems, such as low self-esteem and depression”. In relation, approximately “11% of men and 16% of women in Canada
References: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/life-vie/obes-eng.php http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/diseases-maladies/depression-eng.php