Fast food is not the main cause of childhood obesity in the United States
Contrary to a fairly widespread opinion, fast-food restaurants such as “McDonalds”, “Burger King” or “Quick” are not the main causes of overweight children in the United States.
Indeed, a study carried out by the University of North Carolina ( for which you will find a synopsis in the sources of this article ) revealed that this problem rather results from a defective food hygiene due to a lack of initiation to the food balance in the family.
In other words, if children are too fat, it is mainly because adults do not balance their meals sufficiently and because they snack on too many sweets. Moreover, the imbalance of meals served in school canteens does not help matters. The same is true for the excessive consumption of sugary sodas and processed products. The study also revealed that parents do not always set a good example for their children when they should eat more vegetables in their presence. In addition they should consume less of the meals prepared by caterers which contain more animal fats than the meals cooked at home.
The responsibility of fast food is often put forward because the correlation observed between the growth of their activity and that of the rate of obesity in children is flagrant. However, according to the study, half of children never frequent restaurants in this category and 40% rarely frequent them. Only one in 10 children is a frequent customer of Burger Kings and McDonalds. This explains the fact that fast food is not primarily responsible for the overweight that strikes many children in the United States.
Fast food, not dietary examples for all that (!)
It should also be emphasized that the products offered by fast food restaurants are not always the most dietary and that the study does not seek to demonstrate that fast food food is healthy.
A film by Morgan Spurlock entitled Super Size Me (2004) questioned the excess calories of the meals most often served to children and the advertisements for sweets of which children constitute privileged targets.
However, these restaurants have made efforts to offer alternative menus for several years. Many fast-food restaurants therefore now offer salads, such as the SaladBar at “MacDonalds”.
Let’s also remember that, as the professor in our previous article said, who was trying to lose weight via an exclusive diet at “MacDonalds”: ” it’s all about the right choice “.
Stephen Paul is the lead author and founder of My Health Sponsor. Holder of a diploma in health and well-being coaching with more than 200 articles in the field of health, he makes it a point of honor to offer advice based on reliable information, based on scientific research, and verified by health professionals.