3rd+Quarter+Benchmark

As you probably already know, obesity is one of the biggest problems our nation is facing today. What is causing this? Most say fast food companies. In this essay, I will explain just what is happening to American's diets all over the United States, and the few things that are causing the nation to be as obese and unhealthy as ever before.

First off, I'll start with some statistics."During the past forty years, the obesity rate among American preschoolers has doubled. Among children ages six to eleven, it has tripled. Two thirds of American adults are obese or overweight." As you can see, obesity is more bigger of a problem as it has ever been. Many people say it's because of America's current system of food production. It's controlled by a handful of companies reliant on pesticides, chemicals, genetically modified substances, and factory "farms". These are all fairly new things that are being used on so many food products, making people very unhealthy.

Another reason why obesity has become such a problem is because of the fast food industries. Fast food is cheap, fast, and convinient. "The cheapness of today's industrial food is an illusion, and the real cost is too high to pay." Many agree with that statement. Sure, fast food is easy, but it is one of the worst, unhealthy things you can put into your body. One of the biggest causes of obesity comes from fast food. Thousands and thousands of people consume fast food every single day, it's no wonder why obesity has become such a huge problem. Also, a new study found that "Fatty foods are just as addictive as cocaine and herion." That's probably one other reason why people don't just stop eating fast food, they're addicted.

It's not just that fast food is easy and convinient, either. "Fast food's marketing strategies, which make perfect sense from a business perspective, succeed only when they induce a substantial number of us to overeat." Fast food companies have made what people call "portion distortion." Cheap food inducees people to eat more! When fast food companies sell food for so cheap, people buy more because they think they're getting a good bargain, and who doesn't love a good bargain? Fast food marketing = manipulation. When the fast food companies do well, the population gains weight.