When I was in high school and college, I went to fast food restaurant pretty often. Thought it was just a trend that time, but I was wrong. Even until today, fast food remains to be a popular choice among students.
So, why make fast food restaurants really popular, years after years:
The food is affordable. Many teenagers do not have big pocket. So, it is good to get something tasty to eat and still have some money left for a movie later. Nowadays, many fast food restaurant opens till late nights like McDonald’s. Moreover, the place is comfortable and safer to hang out during late nights. At fast food restaurants, you choose what you want. You can mix and match with plenty of choices. Coke with French fries, sundae with apple pie, salad with burger. If you don’t like to choose, most fast food restaurants have packaged value meals. Normally, managers there will not stare at you for reading there for hours if you just ordered French fries and a Coke. So, good place to have group discussion for school projects, gossip and even birthday celebration.
Fast food restaurant is a place for social activity for teenagers. Just like small kids, teens are very influenced by their peers and by the media. So, it is fun to be there, as seen in fast food TV advertisements. It is cool.
To ask youngsters not to eat so much fast food is like asking monk to eat meat.
It is not easy.
You can try telling them the unhealthy huge portion sizes, high calorie content, high amounts of refined starch, added sugar, high fat content, and low levels of dietary fiber, but I doubt youngsters will listen. Most teens learn about the importance of health in school but they are not yet ready to embrace responsibility and in fact not concerned about it. I knew about what vitamin A, B and C were when I was in college but I still skipped breakfast and ate only Snicker with Coke for my quick lunch. With more pocket money, beer is the next “in” thing when we thought we were old enough to...