What are
Junk food or junk food means a category of foods that share one or more of the following characteristics:
- Poor nutritional value
- High energy intake
- High intake of table salt
- High intake of refined carbohydrates
- High intake of cholesterol, saturated lipids and / or hydrogenated fatty acids (trans)
Because it is so widespread
Generally, the usual consumers of junk food are distinguished by a Body Mass Index (BMI) which indicates overweight or obesity, high visceral adipose deposition, reduced general fitness (musculoskeletal, cardio-vascular and respiratory) and dysmetabolisms of any kind ( reduced glucose tolerance or diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, etc.). The Americans are a typical example of this, but the attitude towards the consumption of junk food is rapidly spreading to other continents.
The reasons why junk food spreads and settles with extreme ease are different. The control bodies that, instead of protecting the consumer, allow the birth and commercial development of fast-food, confectionery and snack industries, are the first (as well as direct) responsible for the side effects induced by poor nutrition; above all, they should be charged:
- increase in childhood obesity
- increased morbidity and mortality in adulthood
- increase in national public health expenditure.
Wanting to find a logical (but absolutely unjustified) explanation to all this, one could hypothesize that the giants of the industry-junk and the nations that host them are linked by economic interests; I hope it is clear to all readers that limiting the spread of these products would not constitute any violation of their commercial rights, as scientific research has already done so to prove its harmfulness (such as smoking and alcohol).
It would be false to declare that the occasional consumption of junk foods has a significant impact on people's health, because the systemic damage that these junk foods bring to the body is the result of habitual consumption. Ultimately, to avoid any complications, it would be sufficient to limit the consumption of a burger, fries or various snacks once a month; but then why are people, and above all boys, getting more and more junk food?
The answer is very simple: because they are good, because they were designed to enhance their palatability, because they are comfortable, but above all ... BECAUSE THEY ARE ECONOMIC.
Junk food is extremely cheap: hydrogenated fats, sucrose but also sweeteners, potatoes, mixed and fatty ground beef, are raw materials that cost very little. Why should a student (and how could he?) Spend 15 euros a day for a small portion of spaghetti with tomato sauce, a chicken breast with salad and natural water, when with 7-8 euros he can eat hamburgers, chips, soft drinks and more an icecream?
Ultimately, junk food costs half, fattens twice and feeds 1/10 compared to the Mediterranean meal.
The same applies to automatic distribution in public places, including schools; for 1 euro, how many of you readers, in front of a packet of colorful chocolate-covered peanuts would choose a single portion of fruit? The answer is obvious ...
In our country, fast food restaurants are doing what bars and taverns have always done: they are INSTITUTIONALIZING. For teenagers, the "Mc" has become a daily fixture, and the fast-food restaurant in question has an excellent loyalty strategy to say the least!
Large and comfortable armchairs, mega-screens for football matches, play areas for children ... even small rooms reserved for physical activity (as if pedaling for half an hour to dispose of that species of "tar" which is served at the counter). At this point, readers will wonder: why is there no valid alternative? Why are the old taverns that for years have been able to brighten up their customers with traditional dishes are dying out? Simple! Because the economic situation of our country does not allow them to stay afloat ... while the big junk food chains certainly do not lack the capital to invest.
The only weapons that the Italian people have in order to counter the merciless marketing of junk food are: family education and school culture .
Parents from all over Italy, feeding represents the act of love par excellence, and to understand it, it is enough to think of the physical and psychological importance of breastfeeding. Do not leave a few euros for your children to make them poison themselves, rather invest a few minutes and feed them; cook for them!
At the same time, the principals of higher education institutions should:
definitively stop supplying (as some are already doing) and distributing snacks and carbonated soft drinks; it should already be clear to all the institutes that culture is not only constituted by the subjects of the school plan, but also (and above all) by nutrition and motor education.
