What is the biggest business in the United States that helps us with our hectic daily schedules that the average person has to deal with and that is the fast food industry. Are they helping or hurting the people of the United States with nutrition and health issues the answer is no, childhood and working adult obesity is the number-one health problem among people, and it is closely linked to the nutrition of choice, fast food.
There are some main reasons behind the tremendous success of fast food giants and how they could proceed with their business but not having the concern of health and wellness in mind. For that I have selected to talk about two of the many fast-food restaurants such as Subway and Burger King. What is the difference between the two restaurants; how the menus and meals are not the choice for a typical family. The main problem facing Subway and Burger King are associated with cost vs. healthy choices for today’s children and working adult.
Eating at fast food puts you at risk for health problems; of the two fast food restaurants mention how many are there in the world? There are approximately 459,490 (Rehman, 2011, p. 1) fast food restaurants. Out of these there are 33,749 Subway restaurants and 12,200 Burger King Restaurants in the United States; both restaurants have corporate and franchise stores and they both have a large amount of selection of food to include breakfast meals and kid’s meals. By selecting these two fast food restaurants in the United States let’s look at what health risks (Henshaw, 2012, p. 1) are associated with fast food.
Many people do not understand how a fast food restaurant can affect their health. Even though Subway uses baked breads and processed meats, while Burger King uses fried foods and greasy hamburgers; the majority of fast food items are packed with sodium, cholesterol, and contain little if any vitamins or fiber and other nutrients that the body needs to work at top performance. The average person ingests 77% (Harvard Health Publications, 2010, p. 1) of sodium from fast-food restaurants. For adults and children prone to diabetes and heart disease, poor choices made at fast food restaurants can compound these medical issues.
With the economy getting worse and the cost of medical going up, people are looking for cheaper options for meals every day; thus the choice of fast foods. With the discussion on Burger King and Subway the key question here are the two eating establishments really healthy; let’s compare them both below and see what you think. Burger King Triple Whopper with Cheese> Calories (pct. daily diet): 1180 (45%)> Saturated Fat: 30g> Carbohydrate (pct. daily diet): 52 (16%)> Sodium (pct. daily diet): 1330mg (58%)
Subway Footling Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki> Calories (pct. aily diet): 750 (28%)> Saturated Fat: 2. 5g> Carbohydrate (pct. daily diet): 117 (41%)> Sodium (pct. daily diet): 1810 mg (79%) This information was taken from the “10 Most Unhealthy Fast-Food Items on America’s Menus” (Daily Finance, 2011, p. 1). The key take away from this is that both of these are really not healthy. What are the key factors when making comparisons between these two fast food selections; one is a greasy hamburger and the other a chicken sandwich. A key factor to take into consideration is age, health and physical activity.
Burger King’s hamburger will utilize the majority of an average adult’s caloric intake. Subway’s chicken sandwich has fewer calories than Burger King’s hamburger. Looking at the comparisons you will note that Subway’s meal is higher in sodium than Burger King. The same goes for the carbohydrates and notice that again Subway is higher in carbs than Burger Kings hamburger. Now which one is worse? You select the food of choice and enjoy. Children and fast foods were talked about in both of these restaurants. Burger King had its sights on customers between the ages of young children to teenagers of 16.
Why were these ages important to Burger King? These ages have the biggest impact on adult’s decisions when concerning quick and efficient meals. Burger King created a kids meal with a free toy. With the children experiencing their happy meals, their attention was to make the meals attractive to the adults. They came up with a slogan (a memorable Jingle) in the early days of the company it was “Have it your way”. Showing the customer that they could have a hamburger cooked any way they wanted gave the illusion the meal was fresh.
Burger King is not in the business of pre-making burgers like other fast food-companies, instead they use frozen meat patties. Subway views their establishment as a fast-food eatery without the greasy hamburgers, marketing their selection as a health-conscious restaurant. The difference between Subway and the other fast food restaurants is that they have a Doctors Associates they work with. Subway also has a marketing slogan as well “Eat Fresh. ” Yes they have a kid’s meal but they do not hand out toys; instead they have cookies and chocolate milk.
Subway also has meal combos like Burger King; however, Subways most popular commercialized size is a five-foot for only five-dollars. What are the pros and cons concerning healthy foods for all ages for the difference between Burger Kings vs. Subway? Looking at Burger King the pros are, they make the meals your way for a cheap price, and they are kid friendly. They provide entertainment for with an indoor play equipment while parents try to eat. The cons for Burger King is not all their food is healthy, with all the high sodium content in many of their food products it becomes a major factor in the obesity and health issues facing us today.
Subway’s pros, they have more fresh vegetable options to choose from and their food is not processed using deep fat fryers. Subway cons are that the foot long sandwiches are not as healthy as we found out; they have high amount of sodium and carbohydrates than Burger Kings hamburgers. As we can see obesity within childhood and working adult is the number-one health problem among people, and it is closely linked to the nutrition of choice, and fast food. You have seen the First Lady, Michelle Obama campaigns for the issues regarding children and adults about their obesity.
Now the season show of the Biggest Loser has joined in the battle of obesity and season 14 (Huff Post, 2012) will have teen contestants this year. With all this information we need to start reading labels and menus and understand what you are consuming. Before you make a selection at your next fast food restaurant be more nutrition consumer aware, and you will choice a healthier life style.
Reference
- Rehman, Z. U. (2011, p. 1). Top 10 Largest Fast Fodd Chains in the World. Retrieved from http://www. amodmag. com/top-10-largest-fast-food-chains-in-the-world. php Henshaw, A. (2012, p. 1). Symptomfind.
- Retrieved from http://www. symptomfind. com/nutrition-supplements/health-hazards-of-fast-food/ Daily Finance. (2011, p. 1). Daily Finance. Retrieved from http://www. dailyfinance. com/2011/06/15/the-10-most-unhealthy-fast-food-items-on-americas-menu/ Harvard Health Publications. (2010, p. 1).
- Harvard Health Publications. Retrieved from http://www. health. harvard. edu/newsletters/Harvard_Mens_Health_Watch/2010/November/salt-and-your-health-part-ii-shaking-the-habit Huff Post. (2012, p. 1). Retrieved from http://www. huffingtonpost. com/2012/09/05/the-biggest-loser-season-_n_1858756. html
