fast food

Snacks that add up fast

Eating out is one of the primary causes of obesity in North America thanks to the wallop of calories served in restaurant food. Dining outside of the house used to be an expensive and rare treat but now, with 24-hour access to fast food and pizza delivery, it’s commonplace. Even if you go to the grocery store it’s quicker and easier to buy something frozen in a box and fire it into the oven or microwave.

People concerned about childhood obesity often point a finger at fast-food restaurants for using fun to make their food more appealing to children, from cartoon characters to toy giveaways and restaurants that look like playgrounds. In one example of this, staffers at the School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center signed a petition asking McDonalds to retire their Ronald McDonald character, and other health experts concurred. But according to McDonalds, the clown isn’t going anywhere.

That fried chicken might be dragging you down, say researchers in Spain. They found that people who eat a lot of fast food and junk food are 37 percent more likely to develop depression than those who rarely order off the value menu.

Whoa, Nelly! The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found fast food serving sizes have mushroomed since the 1950s: