Disadvantages of Fast FoodFast food was first introduced in the 1950s in the United States. Fast food takes little preparation time. Any meal sold in a restaurant or store in a pre-cooked and pre-heated form and served in takeaway/carry-out packaging to customers is called fast food. Merriam-Webster in 1951 recognized as fast food. Fast food products cause various health problems. Artificial ingredients high in sugar or fat are not meant to be consumed regularly. Excessive consumption of these ingredients can lead to health problems, including heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Being mindful of these effects is too essential in determining whether fast food is safe to include in monitoring what you eat, especially if you already have heart or digestive problems. Surveys estimate that snacking caused people to consume 300 extra calories than they normally would. . McDonald's is the largest contributor to this snacking culture, accounting for 43% of snack consumption in the United States alone. Extra sugar and food coloring are added to fast food to make it more appealing, especially to younger viewers. Many believe these addictive ingredients contribute to the growing obesity epidemic. The number of obese children has doubled and the number of obese adolescents has tripled over the past twenty years. an estimated nine million children ages 6 to 18 were obese in 2004. Surprisingly, 65 percent of American adults are obese. That includes 127 million overweight adults, about 60 million obese adults, and 9 million considered morbidly obese, or more than 100 pounds overweight. (MD health.com) It has been estimated that those who live near a fast food restaurant.... ... middle of paper ......the production and sale of junk food has a significant detrimental impact on the environment, in addition to the medical disadvantages associated with fast food. The amount of resources required to produce meat for fast food products creates a resource shortage worldwide. For example, every pound of hamburger we consume requires 2,500 gallons of water and 16 pounds of grain to produce, not to mention the land needed to raise livestock and the grain to feed them. Animals raised to make fast food meat products are often fed antibiotics and poor nutrition which leads to underdevelopment of the animals. These antibiotics and growth hormones can then be passed on to those who eat meat, causing negative health effects. Some have reported additional breast tissue growth or damage to the immune system due to regular fast food consumption..