English
Abstract
One of the primary health concerns today includes obesity and higher BMI. Research links obesity directly to fast food consumption and the changing lifestyles. There is a dire need for developing public health regulations and avoid the mistakes made when handling tobacco industry way back in the 1960s. There is the need to devise strict rules and regulations, what with thousands of fast food restaurants serving millions of consumers around the globe and make sure that the customers make a well-informed decision related to food and their health. The essay discusses why the fast food industry should be regulated in a similar manner to the tobacco industry.
Introduction
There is no denying that fast food is easily available, accessible and very convenient. Aft all, there is a fast food joint around every corner and simply living near one encourages fast food consumption and raises the risk of obesity. A cross-national study by the World Health Organization has found that those who lived near a fast food restaurant were linked to a higher risk of body mass index. It is the responsibility of the government to make sure that the country is eating right and has access to fresh and locally grown produce. Regaling the fast food market will definitely lead to positive results and lower obesity and make the population healthier
The focus of the essay is if the fast food industry should be regulated in a similar manner to the tobacco industry. Although smoking a cigarette cannot be compared to eating fast food, but yet, both carry serious implications for health. Fast food is another inferior product that is more convenient and tastes good, but carries low notations and is high on fats. A significant difference between regulation in the tobacco industry and food regulation is that one needs food to survive but not tobacco. Thus, food products are something that is a necessity for all.
It is observed that countries with less restrictive agricultural regulations, such as Canada, United States, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland showed the highest increases in the annual fast food transactions per capita (Smolarski 2015). World Health Organization supports policies that regulate fast food companies that should include menu labeling, economic incentives for fresh foods producers, taxes on processed foods and soft drinks. There should be stricter rules for fast food advertisements that target children.
The aggressive marketing of fast food
The fast food industry practices have been challenged by the policymakers, the public, and health professionals. There are strong links between poor diet, obesity, and disease. The fast food industry behaviors such as promoting between-meal snacks and marketing unhealthy foods to children for commercial gains is on creating poorer health outcomes and a growing burden on the health care industry. Those outcomes call for a requirement for calorie labeling in restaurants. The food industry spends billions for marketing their sugared breakfast cereals, fast food, and soft drinks, targeting the children and adolescents specifically as stated by Sharma, Teret & Brownell (2010).
The negligible effect of self-regulatory initiatives
Affordable Care Act of U.S. in 2010 stresses on labeling of calories and covers food in supermarket, machines, amusement parks and other fast food outlets (Smolarski 2015).
However, the implementation of the Act gets postponed because of the trade and industry associations lobbying against the requirements. Because of the government intervention and the public outcry, the major food industry players have pledged to adopt self-regulatory initiatives based on self-generated rules and standards. Although there has been a long history of such pledges across different industries such as forestry, marine fisheries, and tobacco, those pledges are beloved to be weak and deceptive and still need to be monitored. (Sharma, Teret & Brownell 2010). Weaker standards harm their transparency and credibility.
Why to avoid the tobacco situation
The food industry may be different from the tobacco one, but it needs to be regulated like the tobacco industry because of the growing global health risk. The purpose behind is to make the public more aware and help them make healthier choices regarding their food habits. If the action is delayed or taken casually, the fast food industry will face the same intransigence and foot-dragging. There should be compulsory rules for the food and drink industry around the world. The public should be educated on Artificial trans-fats, saturated fat and sugar in food and the levels of salt in the fast food. There should be stricter advertising controls if one is to avoid a situation like the 1960s when cigarettes companies advocated that cigarettes are good for health and this lead to the death of millions due to smoking (Stephens, 2014).
Rise in mean body weight in wealthy countries
There have been substantial increases in the mean body weight of population living in rich countries. These changes have been attributed to the changes in lifestyle and dietary patterns of people. There is a marked rise in the intake of fast foods and consumption of ultra-processed foods. People like food that is easy to get and make (De Vogli, Kouvonen & Gimeno,2014). Recent findings suggest that there is a strong association between BMI and fast food consumption. Another contributor is the absence of any market regulation. It has been seen that nations with stringent market regulations have shown a slower rise of BMI and are able to control obesity.
Ill-informed consumers
Consumers are seen to be inaccurate bout their information on fast food and the nutritional value. They are not aware of the higher calorie content and salt intake via these foods. Even health professionals and nutritionists often underestimate the calories in typical chain restaurant foods. A study demonstrates that a prominent information on the calorie intake on fast-food menu not only raises the customers’ awareness of calorie but also help them make careful food choices. There has been a correlation between self-reported use of information on calorie and lower-calorie purchases (Dumanovsky et al.,2010). Thus, calorie-labeling regulations can impact the purchasing patterns on a broader level of populations.
Learning from the tobacco industry
When the tobacco industry promised a variety of good-faith changes in the name of good public's health, what followed was a complete deceit that cost millions of lives in the names of healthy smoking. The food industry must learn from the tobacco industry and avoid expensive mistakes. The tobacco industry emphasized personal responsibility and criticized the research and science on the ill effects of smoking (Brownell & Warner,2009). There are risks of the same script being written for the fast food industry if one doesn’t take timely steps and action. One can see the same steps such as lobbying against the government, making self-regulatory pledges, promises of introducing “safer” products for the short term gains in the fast food industry. As obesity is now a global problem and adding on to other health risks such as diabetes and heart ailments, it is essential to create awareness and make timely decisions.
Conclusion
More than two decades of research suggests a direct link between the growth of fast food chains and rates of overweight and diabetes. Research confirms that fast-food consumption is related to increased calorie intake and body mass index. Unless strictest steps are taken in this direction, the fast food market will continue to sell and promote obesity worldwide that can lead to disastrous consequences for public health care in the future that can impact economic productivity. There should be global agreements of the highest level on fast food regulations and stringent rules set to control their quality, accessibility, and marketing. Only when the government and the public joined hands and accepted their responsibilities, can one expect real changes on ground levels. Stricter regulations and menu calorie labeling can lead to a well-informed consumer and indeed create a beneficial effect on their awareness of calorie intake.
References
Brownell, K. D., & Warner, K. E. (2009). The Perils of Ignoring History: Big Tobacco Played Dirty and Millions Died. How Similar Is Big Food? The Milbank Quarterly, 87(1), 259–294. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0009.2009.00555.x
De Vogli, R., Kouvonen, A., & Gimeno, D. (2014). The influence of market deregulation on fast food consumption and body mass index: a cross-national time series analysis. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 92(2), 99–107A. http://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.13.120287
Dumanovsky, T., Huang, C. Y., Bassett, M. T., & Silver, L. D. (2010). Consumer Awareness of Fast-Food Calorie Information in New York City After Implementation of a Menu Labeling Regulation. American Journal of Public Health, 100(12), 2520–2525. http://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2010.191908
Smolarski,, Michelle. (2015). World Health Organization study shows need to regulate fast food industry, csmonitor. Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/The- Bite/2015/0901/World-Health-Organization-study-shows-need-to-regulate-fast-food-industry
Sharma, L. L., Teret, S. P., & Brownell, K. D. (2010). The Food Industry and Self-Regulation: Standards to Promote Success and to Avoid Public Health Failures. Sharma, L. L., Teret, S. P., & Brownell American Journal of Public Health, 100(2), 240–246. http://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2009.160960
Stephens, P. (2014). Food should be regulated like tobacco, say campaigners, bbc. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/health-27446958
