Despite warnings by healthcare experts and scientists, the consumption of junk food has been on the rise in many parts of the world. Many posit education as the panacea for this problem, while others say that such a measure will not yield results, and I agree.
Granted, one might argue that education is efficacious in curbing the consumption of junk food. This is predicated on the assumption that fast food eaters are simply not aware of the health risks associated with their dietary choices. According to this theory, if they are better informed about how susceptible they are to diet-related problems such as obesity and cardiovascular diseases, they may avoid eating fast food altogether. However, this line of reasoning is not sound as many simply do not have a choice but to eat fast food due to their financial hardship. Even if they are well aware of the dangers involved in their food choices, they cannot afford more salubrious foods, which generally cost significantly more than a meal at McDonald’s or KFC.
Other reasons to question the efficacy of education are related to people’s fast-paced lifestyles and the bombardment of advertisements for unhealthy food. Most working people, even those in the field of healthcare themselves, find it increasingly difficult to spare enough time to cook a meal for themselves and their families due to their hectic schedule. As a result, they have to resort to readily-made meals or processed food, while their children are left to eat at will. These youngsters’ obvious choice is fast food because of its tastiness and convenience. Furthermore, the impact of awareness – raising campaigns to exhort people to change their eating habits would pale in comparison with that of the overwhelming number of adverts for junk food. Were education to be efficacious, an unimaginable sum of money would be required to offset the impact of advertising for this food.
In conclusion, placing education at the core of measures to deal with the high consumption of junk food is an unwise course of action due to financial and lifestyle-related factors and the ubiquity of advertising for such food.