Fast Food Generation

Experts say we are drawn to different foods depending on our ' Food Personalities'. Your attitudes to food are relevant; it's unlikely that eating is just about satisfying a basic need. Today, what we eat is intrinsically intertwined with our emotions. Some of us eat to cheer ourselves up, for example, while others eat healthily all week, and then gorge themselves on cheesecake at the weekends.

Whatever your attitude towards the quantity, quality and frequency of your food intake, we have a unique 'Food Personality.

As with any personality, there are strengths and weaknesses. Identify which is yours - it will help you to discover what's great about your eating habits, but you will see what you can do to improve, whether it's increasing your energy levels or your confidence.

Nutritionists identify 5 main food personalities (Appendix 1)

I have done research to find out what type of eating habits my schoolmates follow.

I suppose these findings can display the patterns typical of our generation. After my schoolmates were questioned, I processed the results were struck to discover that most of them are Fast Food Fans unfortunately it’s common trend worldwide. Teens seem to get hooked on fast food. It’s alarming as it leads to health problems.

Time constraints, parents who work outside the home, extracurricular activities and social obligations; these are just a few of the reasons teens have developed a need for a quick meal or an "on the go" snack. Fast food, microwave-in-a-minute meals, meals on the go, and heat-n-eat are just a few of the marketing gimmicks that have appealed to households everywhere. Meals that once used to take hours to prepare now can be done in a fraction of the time, allowing teens to continue to be on the go. Have these types of meals affected teen's health and eating habits? You bet your burrito.

Vending machines and fast food venues in school cafeterias, combined with the minimal amount of time teens have for lunch, contributes to the problem. The school cafeterias are bringing in outside vendors - not just vending machines, but fast food outlets now have a place in school cafeterias as well. Every year children growing up in the United States see 10,000 food commercials. Nearly every one is for soft drinks, fast foods, sugary cereals, candy and snack foods. They have Shaquille O'Neal because he does Burger King; Britney Spears because she does Pepsi. They have Disney characters, animation. They have music ... you have none of that as a parent.

To combat the threat of school lunches attributing to the deficiencies in the American teen's diet, parents could choose to have teens "pack" or take their lunch to school. By bringing their own lunch, they no longer need to wait in a long line which decreases the amount of time they have to eat. Thermal lunch boxes, thermoses and lunch-box-size ice packs make it possible to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold allowing a wider variety of foods to be chosen and taken for a healthy, well-balanced school lunch.

Even parents that work can help to ensure that their teens are eating healthy foods and well-balanced meals. By knowing what is in the cupboards and refrigerator even when your not at home, parents can ensure that they teens will have nutritious foods to choose from when required to prepare their own meals.

"The number one thing that parents can do is to set an example," Burke says. "Setting example means that the parents themselves are following a healthy meal plan and shopping healthfully. Number two is that you have to shop for health and for healthy foods. Stock the shelves and the fridge with low-fat cheeses and yogurts, fruits and vegetables. One of the best things a kid can do growing up doing is substituting soda and juice for milk - even if it's chocolate milk. Low-fat chocolate milk is a better choice then juice or soda. It's a matter of choices."

According to the USDA, two-thirds of teens do not get enough zinc or vitamin E, one-half do not get enough calcium and one-third do not get enough iron or vitamin B6. Of American teenage girls, 75 percent do not get enough iron. Parents can equipped them selves with this knowledge and offer their children better choices, better options and better health.

"There is an old saying that says 'knowledge is power,'" Burke says. "It is especially true when it comes to parents helping their teens eat well and eat right. Gain the knowledge of what teens need - vitamins, iron, calcium and a well-balanced diet - and you gain the knowledge to give them a great gift - good health."

I showed my classmates a list of some diseases (Appendix 2).Unfortunately, only 1 person recognized all right diseases (allergy, anaemia, arteriosclerosis, arthritis, asthma, cancer, diabetes, dysentery, hepatitis, obesity) that could be caused by eating wrong food.

Obesity occurs in both children and adults. Problems associated with obesity, for example, read like a medical text-book. Among them: rheumatoid arthritis, breast cancer, gout, hypertension, impaired respiratory function, liver disease, sleep apnea. One of the triggering factors is the quality of food. The UK Government report says that one in five children aged 4 to 18 years ate no fruit during one whole week. Experts advise eating five portions of fruit and vegetables each day – but on average, British youngsters aged from 4 to 18 eat less than half this amount, although failing to eat the recom­mended amounts could lead to health problems in later life.

We rely more heavily on processed and convenience foods and eat out more, especially snack and takeaway foods. Diets have increasingly become a marker for social exclusion with an increasing nutrition gap mirroring the income divide. It is a terrible irony that in some areas there is better access to and more choice of street drugs than fresh fruits and vegetables. In very marked contrast, 90 % of young people consumed crisps and other savoury snack products and 100 % drank fizzy drinks. There is a trend towards increasing fatness in young people and there is concern that overweight in childhood may increase the risk of adult obesity.

Modern may be the first generation in modern history to live shorter lives than their parents did. The obesity problem has been building for years and got ignored far too long by the government and by health professionals.

And by contributing so many easy-to-consume empty calories to our daily diets, added sugars are undoubtedly a major factor in the precipitous rise in obesity among both children and adults. To make matters worse, most heavily sweetened foods are also high-fat foods.

Sodas are the largest single source of added sugars — 33 % of the total — and recent studies have linked the frequent consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks to obesity. One 12-ounce can of soda supplies 160 sweet calories — or 40 grams of sugar. Nearly a tenth of the calories consumed by American teenagers come from nutritionally empty soda, which they drink at the expense of calcium-rich milk and vitamin-rich fruit juices. As a result, many young Americans today are reaching the age of maximum bone growth with bones highly prone to osteoporosis. The other major sources of added sugars are sweet baked goods (cookies, cakes, pies) that account for 14 % of added sugars and lots of fat, and fruit drinks, which account for 10 % of added sugar.

Consumers look for quality and wider choices. This has been set against the backdrop of a rising interest in healthy eating. McDonald's has been confronted with a renewed lawsuit from a group of New York teenagers alleging that the fast-food giant was to blame for their obesity and ill health.

Aside from focusing again on product quality and service, McDonald's has been adjusting to reflect the move towards healthier eating. The company has introducing sliced fruit into its UK menus, which can be ordered as part of a "Happy Meal" instead of fries.

Some historical facts:

The fast food phenomenon evolved from drive-in restaurants built in southern California in the early 1940s. Restaurateurs wanted to take advantage of the rising popularity of cars, so they designed restaurants that let people order and eat without leaving their vehicles. Drive-ins were busy and successful, but they generally used the same short-order style of food preparation that other restaurants did. The service wasn't speedy, and the food wasn't necessarily hot by the time a car hop delivered it.

Richard and Maurice McDonald owned such a restaurant. After running it successfully for 11 years, they decided to improve it. They wanted to make food faster, sell it cheaper and spend less time worrying about replacing cooks and car hops. The brothers closed the restaurant and redesigned its food-preparation area to work less like a restaurant and more like an automobile assembly line.

Appendix 1

1. THE CRASH-DIETER:

You are the one who'll try every new fad diet that comes out.

You are constantly worrying about how much you weigh.

You feel very self-conscious about your body image.

You feel 'fat' after eating foods you consider 'naughty' (such as biscuits or crisps) even though you may not look any different.

2. THE ANTI-DIETER

You never think about the health or weight effects from the food you eat.

You never give a second thought to what passes your lips.

You don't care what you eat, when you eat and how much you eat.

You stay pretty much the same weight, whatever you eat.

3. THE BINGE-EATER

The healthy qualities of your food intake varies widely − from chips with one meal to salad the next.

You worry about overeating, and compensate by skipping meals.

You feel guilty about 'unhealthy' or fattening foods you have eaten.

You feel out of control with your eating.

4. ANGEL/DEVIL-EATER

Your approach to healthy eating is extreme, fluctuating from one end of the scale to the other.

One minute you feel out of control with your eating; the next you are conscious and controlling of every mouthful.

You skip meals, sometimes just because you don't think about food.

You snack on very sweet foods and drinks, and try to make up for it by having fruit or a smoothie.

5. FAST-FOOD FAN

You regularly (in other words, more than once a week) have fast food such as burgers, chips, pizza and fizzy drinks.

You think you don't really care about your health.

You feel you don't need to make much effort with your diet to feel healthy.

You only eat for fuel, not for comfort.

Appendix 2

AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) – a sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A 1989 UK government survey estimates that 1.6 per cent of all British males aged around 30 will die of AIDS-related diseases

allergy – special sensitivity of the body, with an exaggerated response of the natural immune defence mechanism, to the introduction of an otherwise harmless foreign substance termed as allergen

anaemia (-ni:) – a condition caused by a shortage of haemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying component of the blood

angina (angina pectoris) – severe pain in the chest due to impaired blood supply to the heart muscle

arteriosclerosis – hardening of the arteries, a thickening and loss of elasticity of their walls. It is associated with smoking, ageing, and a diet high in saturated fats, resulting in deposits of cholesterol within the walls of the vessels.

arthritis – inflammation of the joints, more common in women, seems to be influenced by heredity and may be triggered by a virus infection. It is alleviated by drugs and surgery may be performed to correct deformity

asthma – difficulty in breathing out due to spasm of the bronchi (air passages) in the lungs. Attacks may be provoked by allergy, infection, stress, or emotional upset

bronchitis –inflammation of the bronchi (air passages) of the lungs, usually caused initially by a viral infection, such as cold or flu. It is aggravated by atmospheric pollutants

cancer – a group of diseases characterized by abnormal proliferation of degenerate cells, capable only of reproducing themselves (tumour formation) so as to outnumber the surrounding healthy cells. Malignant cells tend to spread from their site of origin by the process known as metastasis. Triggering agents include chemical carcinogens (e.g. cigarette smoking); viruses; radiation; diet and possibly psychological stress. Treatment includes surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy which slow or halt cell division

cerebral haemorrhage – the bursting of a blood vessel in the brain, caused by factors such as high blood pressure combined with hardening of the arteries, or chronic poisoning (e.g. with alcohol); it is popularly known as stroke. It may cause death, or damage parts of the brain and lead to paralysis or mental impairment. The effects are usually long-term

cholera – intestinal infection caused by a bacterium and characterized by violent diarrhea. Transmitted by contaminated water or food, it is still prevalent in tropical region

dementia – mental deterioration as a result of physical changes in the brain. It may be due to degenerative change, circulatory disease, infection, injury, or chronic poisoning. Alzheimer’s disease is the commonest form of dementia, estimated to afflict 5-10 per cent of the aged population. This disease is characterized by memory loss and progressive intellectual impairment

diabetes – a disease in which a deficiency in the islets of the pancreas prevents the body from producing the hormone insulin, so that it cannot use sugars properly. It may be controlled by diet and/or insulin. It can lead to blindness, and, if untreated, causes death in coma

dysentery – infection of the large intestine usually due to amoebae and is spread by infected water and foods; remains common in some tropical areas

epilepsy – a group of disorders characterized by the occurrence of seizures, may arise from tumour or blood clot on the brain, head injury

hepatitis – inflammation of the liver, usually caused by a virus. Hepatitis B is a long-term viral disease, causing jaundice and linked with cancer

leprosy – a chronic disease caused by a bacterium which is closely related to that of tuberculosis. The infection attacks skin and nerves

leukaemia (leukemia) - a group of cancer-like diseases of the blood cells, with widespread involvement of the bone marrow. Cure and control by radiotherapy or drugs are more successful in younger patients

multiple sclerosis (MS) - an incurable chronic disease of the central nervous system

obesity – condition of being overweight (generally, 20 per cent or more of the desirable weight for your sex and height)

pneumonia – inflammation of the lungs due to bacterial or viral infection

stroke, or apoplexy – a sudden episode involving the blood supply to the brain