Undoubtedly, the taste — so delicious thanks to additives high in sugar and fat, as well as artificial scents — is burgers’ main appeal. But this type of food also fits perfectly in today’s modern lifestyle. It’scheap, convenient, and quick to obtain.
Love it or hate it, hooked up or not, you certainly can’t ignore the global fast food industry. Especially when it comes to America.
At $281.7 billion, the US market accounts for 32.7% of the global fast food revenue.
Over $885 billion in annual revenue!
With 897,683 businesses employing 14.2 million people around the globe, the fast food industry contributes significantly to the world economy.
Which fast food restaurant in Jamaica would you say has the highest revenue per year?
The relationship between fast or takeaway food consumption and increased body mass index (BMI) and obesity has been reported in many epidemiological studies. Among a Spanish population, Schröder et al. found that consumption of fast food more frequently than once a week increased the risk of being obese by 129%.
Furthermore, consumption of fast foods two times or more per week has been independently associated with a 31% higher prevalence of moderate abdominal obesity in men and a 25% higher prevalence in women.
Moreover, women who reported eating takeaway food once a week were 15% less likely to be weight maintainers than those who rarely (once a month or less) or never ate takeaway food.
The high levels of fat intake commonly associated with takeaway or fast food consumption may be a factor leading to obesity development that is independent of total energy intake.
A growing body of evidence suggests that, even though positive changes are being made to improve the nutrient profiles of takeaway and fast foods, some of these frequently consumed foods may contribute to a variety of negative health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.
Agnieszka Jaworowska, Toni Blackham, Ian G Davies, Leonard Stevenson, Nutritional challenges and health implications of takeaway and fast food, Nutrition Reviews, Volume 71, Issue 5, 1 May 2013, Pages 310–318
Do you think the consumption of Fast Food in Jamaica is a concern among its citizens?
What measures can we put in place to encourage healthy eating?
The history of fast food is really interesting. It has evolved from being a luxury good that was only affordable to the wealthiest Americans to being a staple of America’s diet.
The term “fast food” was coined in the early 1950s by two brothers who owned a chain of movie theaters near Los Angeles. They observed that people were coming out of their movies because they wanted their favorite snack, hamburgers, and hot dogs.
They decided that the theater needed to sell the food and fast. This is how the first drive-in restaurant was born in California. People love this type of food because it is convenient and inexpensive.
The first hamburger chain in the States was White Castle opened in 1921. It was opened by Billy Ingram and Walter Anderson who started with the first White Castle restaurant in Wichita in 1916. They had a small menu which had cheap hamburgers and they sold it in large numbers. The first franchises appeared also in 1921 (A&W Root Beer franchised their syrup) and the first restaurant franchise appeared in 1930s by Howard Johnson.
When the automobiles became more popular, drive-in restaurants started appearing around United States. Costumers in cars were served by carhops who in 1940s started wearing roller skates. The first McDonald’s with fast food was opened by McDonald brothers in 1948 . Soon after them, others started opening their fast food chains: Burger King and Taco Bell opened theirs in the 1950s while Wendy's started in 1969. Carl's Jr., KFC and Jack in the Box existed before in other forms, just like McDonald’s, but as the fast food started becoming popular they reoriented.
