The Effects of Fast Foods on the Health of Persons Consuming Them - Research Paper Example

 Introduction As compared to the United States, China is highly regarded as a conservative and culturally sensitive country. This means that the Chinese people strictly adhere to the Chinese cultural practices, which are exhibited in the cloths that they wear, how they conduct themselves, how they interact with others, and most importantly the type of food that they eat. In regards to the Chinese cuisine, Davis stated that it is highly diverse and it has been developed from several millennia of culinary history. The main staple food for the Chinese people is rice but meat dishes coming from diverse sources such as dogs and snakes are also very popular in China (76-81). Therefore, based on the Chinese cuisine or the popular dishes in the country it is correct to argue that fast foods are likely to gain high preference in China because of the fact that their dishes borders closely with dishes classified as fast foods such as chips and fried chicken. It is important to note that this assumption would have being invalid if the popular Chinese dishes majorly comprised of traditional dishes that are farm grown. The argument that the Chinese have a high preference for fast foods based on the Chinese cuisine is supported by the fact that there are numerous fast foods restaurants in China and majority have American origin such as the Kentucky Fried Chicken, which has opened up 4,618 branches within its 61 years stay in China (Bankman and Alivisatos). Additionally, Bankman and Alivisatos stated that China consumption of meat is twice that of the United States, as it stands at 71 million tons per year. Following the documented detrimental effects that fast foods can have on the health of persons who highly consume them, the Chinese government should highly regulate the promotion of fast foods in order to discourage their high consumption. According to Schlosser, this proposal will ensure that the Chinese population does not experience high health-related issues that are attributed to the consumption of fast foods and that the national health budget does not spiral beyond its capacity to cover for this preventable health related issues (88-95). Therefore, the implementation of this proposal would reduce the cost incurred in treating illnesses or disease such as obesity and high blood pressure that are attributed to the high consumption of fast food products and it will increase the life expectancy period in China. This proposed regulation will bear the expected results since according to Schlosser; it has been able to reduce consumption of fast foods in the United Kingdom, which already has such a regulation in place (178-189). The impact of fast food consumption on the Chinese population China has a vibrant fast food industry that is largely populated by western players of which key among is the Kentucky Fried Chicken and even the globally revered McDonald fast food restaurant chain, which according to Bankman and Alivisatos is expanding at a sporadic rate with ten new restaurants being opened on a weekly basis. This clearly affirms how the Chinese diet has integrated fast foods that bear origin to the western world (1). Bankman and Alivisatos lamented that fast foods majorly offer western-style foods that are made-up of high contents, carbohydrates, saturated fat, and sugar that have less nutritional value and with a lot of processing (1). Sipahi in his writings stated that such fast foods have attributed to the rising cases of obesity in countries that include U.S, China, and the UK, were it has spiraled to an alarming level thereby being declared a serious national crisis (56-58). Schneider further added that a previous research study conducted by the German Institute of Human Health established a clear relation between the consumption of western diet that have high contents of potatoes, sugar, refined grains , and meat with weight gain among the consumers (1). Secondly, Schneider wrote that in a recent research study published in 2012 on the journal circulation showed that there was credible evidence to prove that Chinese people who consumed the western fast foods for more than twice a week had a high risk of suffering from cardiovascular diseases and diabetes (1). This research study noted that there has being an increase in cases of obesity among the Chinese people because of the fact that consumption of fast food is related with physical inactivity. According to Schlosser, the immediate impact of fast food consumption is weight gain that could worsen to an extent of the person being declared obese. Obesity on its part is responsible for a host of diseases that include pulmonary diseases, liver diseases, gall bladder diseases, cataracts, osteoarthritis, stroke, cancer, heart diseases, stroke, diabetes, pancreatitis, gout, and in extreme cases it could lead to the death of the patient (28-33). The increased emergence of fast food restaurants in China is a clear indication that there is also an equal increase in the demand of fast food among the Chinese population. Moreover, the claim that McDonald’s restaurant chain intends to open ten new branch locations on a weekly basis should be a worrying concern as it denotes lack of knowledge on the harmful effects of fast food on a person’s health and hence why it is ever increasing in popularity amongst the Chinese population. Therefore, failure in creating public knowledge on the effects of fast foods is likely to have long-term detrimental effects on Chinese as country and on individuals who consume high amounts of fast foods. The individuals will experience low quality of life as they will be battling various diseases and they might die an early death, while the country will have to spend more on its health budget while trying to tackle health problems that are attributed to unhealthy eating habits (Sipahi, 59-63). Moreover, considering that China has a population of more than 1.3 billion people it therefore, means that the country will be financially constrained while trying to tackle these health related problems. The contribution of fast food advertising on the increased consumption of fast foods product Story and French described fast food advertising as simply the promotion of fast food restaurants and the fast food products through different advertising medium s (18-19). Story and French further stated that advertisements for food and beverages passes on a message that is powerful enough to trigger consumption of the food advertised and positive emotions linked to food consumption (22-23). The message conveyed in the food adverts have the powers to act as real-world primes and lead to corresponding eating behaviors. However, given the types of foods, which are mostly fast foods or snacks and consumption benefits that are typically promoted in food adverts, what is primed or activated in the human conscious is usually consumption of those foods that are rather unhealthy. Therefore, the change in the eating behavior among the Chinese people especially the young people can largely be attributed to the fact that they have being influenced by the advertisements that they see on television stations, hear on the radio, or see on various internet sites. These advertisements are designed in such a manner that eating fast foods is depicted as the “cool” or trendiest thing and this lure people especially the young ones to consume high amounts of fast foods. The UK’s office of communication notes that at least on an average in a day children view 15 TV food advertisements and surprisingly 98 per cent of these adverts tend to promote foods that contain high content of sugar and fat. It is also observed that these adverts portray to children unhealthy consumption pattern with positive results, which is not entirely true or justifiable. And besides the delicious taste, these adverts show other benefits associated with these fast foods are happiness, fun and being “cool” (Story and French, 7-9). Story and French in their studies stated that research conducted on advertising to the younger audience had a conclusive result that showed fast food advertisement lead to greater preference and purchase of the fast food advertised (27-31). Another study conducted by Lesser et al. showed that children who watch TV for longer hours often have unhealthy diets and are more likely to weigh more (17-19). Lesser et al. in their studies showed that children consumed more immediately after viewing a series of at least 8-10 food commercials than when they view the same name of adverts for other products that are non-food (11-12). Therefore, there are substantial grounds to call for the regulation of fast food advertisements in China in order to control or reduce the high consumption of fast food and its associated health related issues. Regulating fast food advertisements One sure way of regulating fast food advertisements is by redefining the false advertisements law, which hinders companies from using false images and statements in order to promote a product and / or a service. By redefining the false advertisements regulations, the Chinese government will hinder fast food restaurants from using exaggerated images in the promotion of their products, which have an ultimate effect of creating a craving on the audience. Secondly, through stringent regulations on false advertisements, the fast food restaurants will be hindered from using unverified statements in the promotion of their products such as the unverified claims on the nutritional value of their products. These unverified claims convince the audience to consume the products while relying on falsified hope that they will gain the nutritional values that have been stated on the promotional message. Thirdly, the Chinese government should create a provision within the law, which would require fast food restaurants to stipulate in a very clear and visible manner the contents or ingredients contained in a fast food product. To ensure that consumers are aware of what they are eating and the possible consequences of eating such products. Fourthly, same as the UK government, the Chinese government should enact regulations that hinder fast food advertisements from being aired during the prime time hours and when kids’ shows are being aired. This is to ensure that young children who have not yet developed the ability of self-control are prevented from seeing or hearing advertisements that might alter their eating behavior. Opposing arguments for this proposals Opposition will come from various quarters in regards to these proposals. The main opposition will come from fast food restaurants who would complain about the highly regulated business environment, which tends to stifle growth of their business. Secondly, advertising companies will complain about the stringent regulations that make their work harder while television stations and radio stations will complain about reduced earnings arising from reduced advertisements from fast food restaurants. However, the key argument that can be used to squash the opposition, is the fact that increased fast food consumption needs to be regulated to ensure that cases of obesity and other related illnesses do not increase. More so, it is better to have consumers who are healthy and will live a long life and therefore, sustain the business in its long-term growth than to have consumers who are ill and therefore, unable to no longer sustain the business as well as the general economy as they become dependants. Works Cited Bankman, Judy. and Alivisatos, Elektra. Western Fast Food Chains Flourish in China, Rates of Obesity and Diabetes Skyrocket. Retrieved from: http://foodtank.org/news/2013/08/western-fast-food-chains-flourish-in-china-rates-of- obesity-and-diabetes-sk. Accessed on [07.11.2013] Davis, Edward. Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture. UK: Taylor & Francis Lesser, Lenard. Zimmerman, Frederick. and Cohen, Deborah. Outdoor advertising, obesity, and soda consumption: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health, 2013; 13 (1) Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. London: Harper Perennial. 2002 Print Schneider, Suzannah. Is Obesity Contributing to Global Warming? Recent Studies Share Suprising Results. Retrieved from : http://foodtank.org/news/2013/11/is-obesity- contributing-to-global-warming-recent-studies-share-surprising-r . Accessed on [07.11.2013] Sipahi, Seyhan. Expanding Operations in Fast-Food Industry under Uncertain Market Conditions. International Journal of Trade Economics and Finance. Vol 1 (1) 2010 Print Story, Mary and French, Simone. Food Advertising and Marketing Directed at Children and Adolescents in the US. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2004, 1:3  Read More