Parenting Australia

Beware – Fast Food Makes You Fat

While we know fast food makes us fat, the information is doing nothing to slow down the industry or our growing waistlines. Australians are getting fatter and with our beautiful weather and love of sports, there is only one culprit bringing us down (or out) – fast food. Just like bad boys to an impressionable teenage lass, fast food is the West's bad romance. The only difference is, we are not learning from our mistakes.

Devoid of any substantial function besides piling on the kilos, fast food is like eating air, if air gave you heart disease. These foods are generally loaded with calories, saturated and trans fats (unhealthy fats), and very low in nutritional vitamins and minerals. You have to take control of both your appetite and food intake, and it starts in the kitchen – your kitchen, not the local Fries 'N' Fat Burgers'.

A US study found in a 15 year period that people who ate at fast food restaurants frequently gained approximately 4.5 kg more than those who ate meals prepared at home and were twice as likely to develop insulin resistance, which generally leads to diabetes. Unlike our ancestors who expelled most of their energy hunting and preparing food that was often scarce in quantity when it could be found, our hunting is calling the pizza joint and preparing is opening the box – food is available all the time everywhere. It is so easy to eat too much and do very little activity.

Most fast food is high in fat and a small volume of food has an enormous number of calories with very little impact on our feeling of "fullness" (satiety), consequently we overeat. The bulkier and more nutritious foods such as vegetables, salads, and fruit which are low in calories and less energy dense are more filling, and require more effort to eat as they require chewing due their fibre content. Fast food calories are not recognised by the body and do not trigger the same sense of fullness as other foods. Whereas, the same proportion of calories in healthier foods will keep you full and lean.

Additionally, portion sizes have grown remarkably and are now accepted as normal. When we are faced with larger portions we are tempted to eat more and ignore our feelings of fullness whether we choose the regular or large size and often forget or dismiss what we have eaten in prior meals. We seem unaware of the body's natural cues of hunger and fullness – we just eat!

Don't deny yourself though – go out, and take time to compare your options and never be shy to ask the ingredients in the food. Supermarkets have now made it easier to prepare tasty, easy meals at home –prepared washed salad, cut up stir fries, soup mixes, and seasoned meats. Making an effort to prepare a yummy meal at home is a healthier option as you are controlling what you are eating.

Your body will react to what you put into it – you will feel better on healthier fuel in the correct quantity!

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