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Fast food is bad for your child and your entire family. Stop buying it. (Is that the end of the story? Oh, hardly!)
We understand — really, truly, sincerely comprehend — that fast food is the ultimate godsend on a busy weeknight when you've worked a full day and the kids are going in different directions. At the end of a busy day, you feel as though you can't commit to any dinner that isn't already prepared and bagged up for your convenience.
Although completely understandable, these still aren't good enough reasons to feed your family the typical drive-thru fare. In this article, we talk about why eating fast food has become so common, why it's so unhealthy, and why cutting out this habit completely — especially in families with weight issues — is so important.
Fa(s)t food: What you crave
Recently, many fast-food chains have started offering their customers healthier options, like salads and grilled chicken sandwiches. Heck, you can even find bottled water in a lot of places these days. So if you're really in a pinch, you can definitely find a healthy option or two for your kids. You'd think we'd lay off fast food for this reason.
Well, you'd be wrong. The problem with fast food is that so many people crave and consume the unhealthy items on the menu, which far outnumber the healthier options. And the reason that people crave these foods, according to some researchers, is because they're loaded with addictive compounds, including:
Thinking that there may be addictive compounds in fast food isn't such a big leap in logic. If you don't just love your morning coffee but actually have to have it or else your entire day is ruined, you know the feeling of having a chemical dependence. This addiction isn't as serious as heroin or nicotine addiction, but it's still real. Caffeine and sugar tend to act on the body by providing a burst of energy; fats and carbohydrates tend to have an opposite, more mellowing (sometimes tiring) effect. Combine these substances in one sitting on a regular basis and your child's body doesn't know what's going on; all it knows is that it wants these substances and wants them now.
 | Some critics of the fast-food industry have gone so far as to suggest that restaurants know exactly what they're doing by pushing unhealthy foods with addictive compounds: They're creating a nation of addicts who truly feel a physical craving for burgers, shakes, and fries. Whether you believe that there's a true intention to hook people on fast food is your own call, but you can't deny the argument that a regular fast-food habit can be very hard to break. |
Addictive qualities aside, the average frequent fast-food customer may expect weight gain, heart disease, and/or diabetes after consuming a diet high in fat and sugar for several years. Although an exception to this rule may exist somewhere (like someone who's eaten huge burgers every day of his life for the past ten years and looks and feels fit as a fiddle), most people who eat fast food on a regular basis can pretty much expect that their weight will climb and their overall health will decline.
Kids and fast-food meals
The average kids' meal at a fast-food place contains:
- Burger: 280 calories; 13 grams total fat; 4 grams saturated fat
- Small fry: 240 calories; 13 grams total fat; 2.75 grams saturated fat
- Small soda: 270 calories; 30 grams sugar
This one meal adds up to 790 calories, 26 total grams of fat, and 30 grams of sugar. You know what's missing, though? Vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
Also, 790 calories is on the high side for one meal (and the smallest "complete" meal you'll find in a fast-food place, at that), especially when we're talking about limiting calories to about 1,500 to 1,800 per day for obese children. You can do better than this kids' meal for your child. She could have a plate of grilled chicken, salad, and a baked potato and consume far fewer calories, fat, and sugar!
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