How healthy is it for you and your children to consume fast food? While fast food seems like an easy and convenient option, reports show that is not truly the case when taking into consideration how it affects a person’s health. Experts find that the convenience does not outweigh the consequences to consumers’ health.
NBC news reports on the hidden costs of consuming fast food.
Most consumers are unaware of the fact that fast food raises body mass index (BMI) numbers per meal. Many assume that eating fast food regularly causes an increase in BMI but that is not so; a BMI can be raised significantly with just one meal.
“A new study from U.S. and Irish researchers puts a precise number on BMI increase. They found that for every extra fast-food transaction in a country — every time someone bought a hamburger or a serving of fried chicken — the average BMI went up by 0.03. They say this means governments need to make fast food less attractive to their citizens,” according to NBC.
Fast food companies are not going to warn consumers but experts say the government should. One doctor told NBC, “The take-home message is that, although free-market policies are not to be demonized, it appears quite clear that in order to fight the obesity epidemic, a stronger role of government intervention is necessary. Unless governments take steps to regulate their economies, the invisible hand of the market will continue to promote obesity worldwide with disastrous consequences for future public health and economic productivity.” The director of the Department of Nutrition at the World Health Organization also commented on the study stating, “This study shows how important public policies are for addressing the epidemic of obesity.”
