DIANA ALVES MENDONCA: Information/Research

In 2008, more than 1.4 billion adults, over 20, were diagnosed as being obese. This is a rapid rising static so why has no one done anything to prevent this fat epidemic? Some people may argue that fast food companies such as McDonald’s and Burger King are to blame for this death sentence of being fast food dangerously over weigh. Fast food companies are to blame, however I also believe that it is the public’s own responsibility.

Firstly, fast food alone is a huge contributor to obesity. Considering the millions of people served at fast food restaurants versus any other eating establishment, fast food restaurants hold a particular responsibility to provide nutritious, tasty and healthy food. Instead, most fast food restaurants provide clearly unhealthy food, or unhealthy food disguised as natural foods, such as salads with low fat salad dressing. In MacDonald’s the chicken and bacon salad that has 16 g of fat has more fat contents then a sweet chill Mayo chicken sandwich which has 10g of fat. The meals that are served at these fast food outlets mainly come with fries as their sides normally contain over 1,000 calories, which is more than half of an average person’s daily amount. The NHS recommends that an average male should eat about 2,500 calories a day and a female should eat about 2,000 calories a day.

A recent 2014 study has shown that 34% of an average British income is spent on greasy takeaways and fat-filled feasts. Fast foods restaurants such as McDonald’s and Burger king have offers and promotions advertised on their homepage of their websites and even downloadable apps that offer “Exclusive offers”. Low prices are used to engage the public to come and buy their fatty food. Places such as Sam’s chicken sells products such as hot dogs for 99p. However the chicken that is sold at prices low as £3.49 is full of grease and is most likely to be the giblets, skin and toe nails that are not used in the average chicken roast that you will have on a Sunday evening. The foods that fast food restaurants advertise to the public looks pleasing, juice and mouth-watering but really when you have it in your hands it looks disgusting, sickening and unappealing. It like the food the use in the adverts and posters are not real it look like they used plastic food models that 4 years play with in their role play kitchen.

However people must realise that the public are equally to blame for their junk food intake. Place such as “Boost juice bars” provided health alternatives to their unhealthy takeaway. Tottenham court road has a “Boost Juice Bar” which is located next door a three floor MacDonald’s. Also the people in general are to blame due to them wanting to waste their money greasy and fatty foods. From my own experience I have seen that fast food restaurants are brain washing poor innocent young children into wanting and liking these hell houses. This has been done by fast food restaurants having songs to do with these restaurants the song that is most common and most children know is “A Pizza Hut”. MacDonald’s brain wash their children by placing breakable toys or games in children’s happy meals making children asking their parents to buy them a happy meal just for the toy that in 2 days’ time the children will lose it or even the toys will break. It is very shocking that before most children can speak they can recognise the MacDonald’s logo.

Fast food has become an addiction for human beings it’s like someone being addicted to drugs or alcohol. Even though fast food is easily available to most people, still individuals have to make a choice to maintain their health. Most people may say that fast food outlets are to blame for their fatness but I think they are wrong because use people decided what to eat, what to spend are money on and what to do. It is shocking to see how many human beings are being brainwashed into eating greasy, fattening and unreal fast food. Fast food outlets is not healthy and it will never be healthy. After every person has fast food to eat they don’t have the energy or the power to do any type of exercise, instead they go home and sit in front of the TV the rest of the day.

In conclusion I think that fast food outlets are to blame for obesity. I think this because after the first fast food restaurant to open (Wimpy in 1974) the rate of obesity increased by 45% and more people become ill and start to get health problems. Also fast food outlets are to blame as they decided to add MSG into their foods making people craving more of their food and always coming back to their restaurant for more. There are many people in the world that don’t know what they are eating and what is contain in their food for all they know they might be eating a nice, rich and tasty piece of chicken but really they might be eating a horrible, unreal and disgusting pigeon.

As everyone knows my mother had breast cancer and she was not lucky and died in 2014. Cancer is a horrible illness and will ruin the life of the person with the illness and it friends and family. So I decided to do a post about Cancer.

Cancer also known as a malignant tumour or malignant neoplasm, is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. Not all tumours are cancerous; benign tumours do not spread to other parts of the body. Possible signs and symptoms include:

a new lump
abnormal bleeding
a prolonged cough
unexplained weight loss
a change in bowel movements

While these symptoms may indicate cancer they may also occur due to other issues. There are over 200 different known cancers that affect humans. Some of them are:

Breast cancer
Brain tumour
Bladder cancer
Testicular cancer
Kidney cancer
Leukaemia
Lung cancer
Ovary cancer

Tobacco use is the cause of about 22% of cancer deaths. Another 10% is due to obesity, a poor diet, lack of physical activity, and drinking alcohol. Other factors include certain infections, exposure to ionizing radiation, and environmental pollutants. In the developing world nearly 20% of cancers are due to infections such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and human papillomavirus. These factors act, at least partly, by changing the genes of a cell.

Approximately 5–10% of cancers are due to genetic defects inherited from a person's parents. Cancer can be detected by certain signs and symptoms or screening tests. It is then typically further investigated by medical imaging and confirmed by biopsy.

Many cancers can be prevented by not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, not drinking too much alcohol, eating plenty of vegetables, fruits and whole grains, being vaccinated against certain infectious diseases, not eating too much red meat, and avoiding too much exposure to sunlight. Early detection through screening is useful for cervical and colorectal cancer. The benefits of screening in breast cancer are controversial. Cancer is often treated with some combination of radiation therapy, surgery, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy. Pain and symptom management are an important part of care. Palliative care is particularly important in those with advanced disease. The chance of survival depends on the type of cancer and extent of disease at the start of treatment. In children under 15 at diagnosis the five year survival rate in the developed world is on average 80%.For cancer in the United States the average five year survival rate is 66%.

In 2012 about 14.1 million new cases of cancer occurred globally. It caused about 8.2 million deaths or 14.6% of all human deaths. The most common types of cancer in males are lung cancer, cancer, colorectal cancer, and stomach cancer, and in females, the most common types are breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, and cervical cancer. Skin cancer is not included in these statistics and if it were it would account for at least 40% of cases. In children acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and brain tumours are most common except in Africa where non-Hodgkin lymphoma occurs more often. In 2012 about 165,000 children less than 15 years of age were diagnosed with cancer. The risk of cancer increases significantly with age and many cancers occur more commonly in developed countries. Rates are increasing as more people live to an old age and as lifestyle changes occur in the developing world. The financial costs of cancer have been estimated at $1.16 trillion US dollars per year.

These are the names of some charities that support cancer: