Economics

Today, fast food retailers like the McDonalds and Buffalo Wild Wings are involved in strategic campaigns and efforts to increase  their demands and returns. Economically, these organizations are doing commendable jobs in terms of employment creation and satisfaction of  the ever  growing consumers demand for the fast foods through such means as opening of new restaurants, franchising and broadening of products base . However, there are health risks that  the consumers are exposed to as a result of consumption of fast foods. As a result,  the expenditure  incurred  in   the treatment and management of  fast food related ailments and diseases , surpass the economic gains from the industry as well as the lost productivity and labor time. According to Fortin and Yazbeck (2009),  the US health spending could be cut by 100 billion to  150 billion per  yeaif the fast food related diseases like  obesity could be reduced (p.1). This is an expert testimony which justifies  the need to critically look into   the health related effects of fast foods.

The prevalence of obesity and its close association with obesity has become a major point of debate among the health practitioners for many years. In economics, the effects of fast food related diseases like obesity  can be felt in terms  of the lost man hours and eventual fall in  productivity. Accordingly, from a labor market perspective, obesity seems to have a negative impact on employment of both women and men (Fortin  Yazbeck, 2009, p.2). This implies  that the economy is likely to lose more if  the productive people who are supposed to take part in  the labor market are bogged down by diseases.

But what makes people go for  the fast food Several reasons  have been advanced to explain the reasons  for the popularity of fast foods.  One main reason is the nature of schedules that most people have more so  in the day time. By being busy and having tight schedules, most people resort to fast foods as a way of saving time. Conversely,   the wide use of fast food may be attributed to the increased female labor participation and the decreased time allocated to household tasks (p.2).  In  this case, as conventionally expected,  there have been reversed gender roles as more women are now formally employed and have very little time to prepare non fast foods in their houses.

Further, the consumption of fast food is not  uniform among the various population segments. However,   there are variations which are normally witnessed based on the subjects of a study. Based on individual analysis  of fathers, Fortin and Yazbeck (2009) argue that  the intake of fast food, though not has no uniform features, increases with age, fathers education, their  allowance per week as well as education  while for  the mothers, the consumption decreases with mean mothers education (p.16).  These are the factors which have been capitalized on  by the fast food vendors to make  their sales and also to attract and retain   their clients. The consumption therefore also increases with  the level of advertisements and  the aggressiveness of  the promotional activities put in place by  the vendors. In effect,  these practices increase chances of obesity prevalence and eventual health burdens.

In conclusion, it is evident  that consumption of fast food is very widespread among the various population groups.  The growing patters and trends in  the fast food emanate from tight schedules and increased responsibilities, aggressive media campaign by vendors and more employment and participation of both genders in  the labor market. Due to  the increased consumption of fast  foods,  the consumers have been exposed to various chronic diseases like obesities while  the  economy bears  the huge health budget.   Proper regulation of  the fast food industry, and public education   may therefore help to reduce up  to 18.7 percent of the US total health-care budget if such habits are eliminated (Fortin and Yazbeck, 2009, p.1).