The phrase “fast food” invokes thoughts of cheap, delicious and convenient meals. However, the truth is that these words can be deceiving.

Compared to home-cooked food, junk food is much richer in calories, fats, and carbohydrates, all of which promote weight gain when consumed in large quantities. For example, McDonald’s “Angus Bacon & Cheese,” which can satisfy the hunger of a normal teenage boy, contains one-third of the normal daily calorie content of every individual. On the other hand, the same quantity of food in baked potatoes is no more than 220 calories, which is equal to one-tenth of a person’s calorie ration per day.  Also, half of the calories in convenience foods come from fat, which is becoming a serious threat to the modern man. Spending lunch breaks in a amongst junk food increases an individual’s chances of falling ill with lethal diseases, such as heart attacks and Type 2 diabetes.

When asked about their opinion on junk food, most people answer that it is not a problem for them to eat it once or twice a week. Few are those who say that they are waiting on the queues of McDonald’s, KFC, or Burger King every day. Unfortunately, the number of people who consider themselves strongly against the consumption of junk food is even smaller.

The problem is not that people are unaware of the harmful effects of fast food on their health. However, it is a common misconception in most parts of the world that it is less expensive than self-prepared food. In his article “Is junk food really cheaper?” New York Times columnist Mark Bittman reveals: “hyperprocessed food remains more expensive than food cooked at home.” According to Bittman, feeding a menage of four with convenience food may cost from $23 to $28. On the other hand, buying the same amount of raw chicken and potatoes and preparing them at home, according to the Times, is around $14- half the price of a similar menu at McDonald’s.

Although most people claim that they buy junk food because it is cheaper, specialists in this sphere agree that money does not motivate people to eat unhealthy food. Nowadays, consumers buy junk food mainly because it is much more convenient for them to not have to spend time shopping and then cooking at home. The average American adult works about eight hours a day, which doesn’t always allow for him or her to meet all of the household duties.  Of course, passing through some convenience-food place on your way home after work can seem like the perfect alternative to preparing home meals.

Others point out that those who live far away from food markets are forced to consume the nearest available, and often unhealthy, food they can find. In the 21st century it is laughable for people to claim that isolation is the main reason for them to consume junk food. Although a recent study showed the discouraging a truth, that “there are five fast-food restaurants for every supermarket in the United States.” This doesn’t mean that people are not given the chance to choose whether to live healthily, or to continue spending time in the dining halls of junk-food restaurants.

Recent studies have shown that humans have become much more aware of the fact that they should consume more nutritious food, if they want to be healthy. However, according to the Director of Nutritional Policy with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Margo Wootan, it is still impossible to convince some people that fruits and vegetables are more beneficial and less expensive than products rich in fat, salt, or sugar. “If they buy a bag of chips for $2, they think it is a good deal, but if they buy a bag of apples for $2, they think it’s a lot,” Ms. Wootan commented.

The inclination to consume fast food is accepted as one of the major problems people face today.  Whether we will solve it or not depends entirely on us. However, one thing is clear: serious measures have to be taken soon, in order for us to prevent the ceaseless progress of the “junk-food epidemic” that is affecting the modern world.

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Over the last year, a network of more than 1,900 health professionals, including some of the nation’s top pediatricians, cardiologists, and child psychologists, has called on McDonald’s to stop marketing junk food to kids.

As part of the initiative, leading doctors are joining Corporate Accountability International in calling on the administrators of the nation’s leading health institutions to remove McDonald’s franchises from their premises. Twenty-two hospitals currently have contracts with the fast food industry leader, including the Cleveland Clinic and Children’s Memorial Hospital of Chicago.

“Kids are being treated for diet-related conditions like diabetes on one floor in the hospital and given the wrong message by being offered the world’s most recognized junk food brand on another floor in the hospital,” said Dr. Francine Kaufman, former president of the American Diabetes Association and professor emeritus of pediatrics and communications at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, one of the hospitals with a McDonald’s. “The practice earns McDonald’s an undeserved association with healthfulness among parents and children alike…and it should be curtailed.”

A 2006 study in the academic journal Pediatrics demonstrated that allowing a McDonald’s store to operate inside a hospital affects hospital guests’ consumption on the day of their visit, and boosts the perception of the “healthfulness” of McDonald’s food.

To address this concern and call for action, the initiative sent a letter to 22 hospital administrators last week. The letter further notes: “It’s no surprise that McDonald’s sites stores in hospitals. After all, for decades, McDonald’s has attempted to co-opt the health community, to deflect blame for the epidemic of disease that it has helped drive, and to pose itself as part of the solution.”

It also discusses the powerful message administrators could send in taking action, just as others have before them. For example, in 2009, Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas, Texas succeeded in replacing a McDonald’s with a smaller chain offering healthier food. McDonald’s had been the only chain restaurant at the hospital for 20 years. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Vanderbilt Medical Center have also ended their contracts with McDonald’s in recent years.

“Simply put, the less kids are exposed to fast food and its marketing, the less likely they are to suffer from diet-related conditions like type 2 diabetes,” said Sara Deon, International’s Value campaign director and the letter’s principle signatory. “McDonald’s has a long history of putting a healthy label on an inherently unhealthy brand.

It has used healthcare providers and institutions to help promote this image for decades. Today, administrators have the opportunity to provide a healthier food environment for the children and families they care for.”

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Despite the new look for McDonald’s Happy Meals starting in Sept in the U.S. critics say McDonald’s can still do more.

The golden arches will be offering a healthier option for their Happy Meals. But the University of Minnesota’s Simone French believes McDonald is missing a bigger chance to help children’s health. French believe McDonald should get rid of the soda.

The kids’ meals will be adding 1/4 cup of apples to their meals in addition to serving a smaller portion of french fries.

This change with cut 130 calories from the current Happy Meal. -The new Happy Meal with four pieces of McNuggets, apple slices, smaller French Fries and 1% milk will have 410 calories, 19 grams of fat and 560 milligrams of sodium.

French is an expert on marketing and societal influences that affect eating behaviors and is studying how to improve the diets and habits of low-income Minnesota families. These families are particularly affected by fast food practices, she said, because those restaurants offer food they can afford.

“What you could do is not even offer a sugar-sweetened beverage in a kids’ meal,” she said to Star Tribune. “If parents want it, they should have to order it separately off the menu.

Childhood obesity has become a growing problem in the U.S. and health advocates have pointed fingers at McDonalds for contributing to the problem. But McDonald’s is taking steps to change that, “by adding fruit in every Happy Meal, McDonald’s hopes to address a challenge children face in meeting the recommended daily consumption of produce,” according to the corporation’s statement.

The changes follow first lady Michelle Obama’s public health campaign to prevent childhood obesity. The first lady says she commends the progress McDonalds is making by providing more fruit and reducing the calories in its Happy Meals, “I’ve always said that everyone has a role to play in making America healthier, and these are positive steps toward the goal of solving the problem of childhood obesity,” Michelle Obama in a statement.

“McDonald’s is taking steps in the right direction, but we should be careful in heaping praise on corporations for simply reducing the scope of the problem they continue to create,” said Kelle Louaillier, executive director of Corporate Accountability International to CNN Health. “Ultimately corporate responsibility is not about securing public relations for cleaning up your own mess, but for not creating the problem in the first place. In this case, that means stopping the marketing of junk food to kids.”

The suggested retail price of the Happy Meal will not change, remaining between $2.99 and $3.49.

“McDonald’s has been engaging suppliers, government and non-government organizations to determine ways it could play a role in helping society address today’s obesity concerns,” the company’s press release said. “McDonald’s will develop additional fruit and vegetable choices and expects them to roll out over the next few years.”

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