Many schools are allowing fast-food restaurants to operate their business in their area with students as their primary consumers. This essay contends that this is a negative development due to its potential harm on children’s growth and the excessive amount of sugars that can cause obesity.
Fast-food often lacks essential nutrients like vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Consuming fast-food regularly such as burgers and fries, lead to nutrient deficiencies that can affect students’ growth and development. Since most of the students are still children, they need a balanced and nutritional food as their main diet to support their growth. Had they consume fast-food daily, they are more prone to fatigue or headache and may deter their optimum growth. For example, students who consume real and nutritious food can grow 1.5 times higher than those who rely on fast-food as their main diet.
In addition, higher calories from added sugars and unhealthy fats in highly-processed food are increasing the risk of obesity in children. Studies show that the added sugar in a bottle of cola are surpassing the recommended amount of sugar intake in a day. When not needed, these sugars are converted into fat which consequently will increase the consumer’s weight. Reflecting on most people’s habits on cola intake, it is possible that these students are consuming more than one bottle of cola in a day. That amount of extra sugar from regular consumption can lead to various health problems.
In conclusion, the increasing number of fast-food restaurants in schools is a negative development. This is because they negatively affect the growth and development of students and can lead to massive weight gain in individuals.