Food Industry

The number of fast food restaurant advertisements is increasing (Story, 2003). “Increases in fast food availability and access to television entertainment may contribute to increasing obesity rates in the United States…though the findings suggest further study is warranted to explore the relationship between fast foods and television with the prevalence of obesity” (Jeffery & French, 1998, p. 280). “High-calorie, artery- clogging foods are cheap and plentiful. Healthy foods can sometimes be hard to find and children are surrounded by increasing amounts of junk food advertising.

The food industry spends an estimated 33 billion dollars a year on advertisements and promotions (Raeburn, Forster, Foust, & Brady, 2002, p.113). The increased preparation time of health foods and the higher expense also lead parents to offer their children poor food choices (Gable & Lutz, 2000). This issue will be discussed further under the ‘parental influence' section of this paper. Some other characteristics of food that are associated with obesity in children are an increased volume of food, lower prices, and increased portion sizes (Raeburn et al., 2002). The availability or convenience of poor food choices is also a factor. Soda pop and junk food dominates the contents of vending machines and cafeterias in schools. To help combat this problem, the government of Ontario will ban the sale of junk food in elementary schools. Education officials believe this will encourage students to make healthier choices. Also, this can send a strong message to both students and parents that the food sold in the machines is not healthy (Canadian Press, 2003).