Fast Food: Should Junk Food Be Banned?

It is not uncommon for the typical person to think the “standard American diet” is generally a healthy diet. Most people already have predetermined a bad correlation with the terms fat, cholesterol, and even sodium when in truth these are fine in the right amounts combined with the correct amount of other macro and micronutrients. Every person is different, and there is no set number of vitamins, minerals or nutrients that work universally to every person. Kids can benefit from dietary improvements at any age. Quality foods make a difference when they are young, and their brains are growing most rapidly. It also makes a huge difference for teens, whose brains are restructuring for adult life. (Greene 6). In addition to this people also think
Most people can agree on the general statement that junk food has unhealthy side effects, but a large issue is people do not really understand what can be truly classified as junk food. This is where the food marketers come in to play. They can use words to make the consumer think anything is healthy just by using the correct terminology. “In the latest upset, four federal agencies known as the Interagency Working Group (IWG) have delivered a plan to drastically censor food advertisers with products deemed to be “too high” in sodium, sugar, or fat that cater to any viewing audience between ages two and 11” (Andersen 1). The food marketers are good at what they do and know how to manipulate the consumer. This is why it should not be banned or restricted. The consumers need to be aware of how they are being targeted and develop a skill of not just listening to everything told to them and assume its a fact. The more society progresses, the more access to information is available, so it seems backwards that the rate of people developing diseases is increasing so
“Nearly 40% of children's diets come from added sugars and unhealthy fats.” (Unhealthy Food 2) When schools finally accept the fact that schools banning junk food will not have a noticeable effect they can get back to their main task: educating the youth. “If schools serve healthy lunches, that does not necessarily mean that kids will eat them.... If there is junk out there, kids will find it” (Metallo 1). Schools are having to choose between giving students the opportunity to eat a healthy lunch, or go into debt and lose a major source of revenue, which is also number one contributor to weight gain and illness. (Bornstein 1) The leading question asked by children when nutritional learning is brought up is, “Why don’t schools teach us right from wrong?” (Bornstein