WMD FOUND!! Located in Inner-City Restaurants. PART III
on October 18th, 2004 at 2:36 amIn this part of the series, I will talk just a little bit about the heath issues that are tied directly to our fast food consumption.
The following are excerpts from an article that summarizes a study by the American Journal of Public Health (2003):
…a recent study finds that unhealthy images relating to food are already much more common on prime-time TV shows aimed at blacks than on other such shows.
Prime-time programmes like ‘Jamie Foxx’ and ‘Moesha’, which feature mostly black characters and are aimed at a black audience, include more overweight actors and also are surrounded by more commercials for junk food than shows such as ‘Frasier’ and ‘Friends’, whose characters are almost exclusively white.
…the study finds that the black TV shows carry more food commercials — five during each half-hour show, compared to three for all prime-time shows — and a greater proportion of these commercials were selling candy, chocolate and soda.
A recent survey found 27 percent of African Americans to be obese, compared to a national average of 19 percent. (full article)
The point that really sticks out to me is the obesity rate amongst African-Americans. Obesity has become so common in our communities until is some cases it is considered fashionable (big behind, breasts). What we neglect to see is the high health risk that is tied to this image. It really breaks my heart to see 7-10 year olds already being considered obese (and please don’t have them wearing one of those baby tees! I have seen enough grown folks wear them–just my side remark). Sodium intake amongst blacks is extremely high. This, of course contributes to diseases such as high blood pressure. Take for example Mc Donald’s french fries. There was a time when their fries were sprayed with beef tallow. Beef tallow is very high in saturated fats (something that our palette loves to taste, but it is not good for you), and it originates from the fat of cattle. So all of those trips to Mc Donald’s where you just ordered fries because you wanted to watch what you eat–you were just fooling yourselves ( I was just as guilty in this department). The fries are also heavily salted before they are served. That is why it is so hard to eat just one.
You also see from this study that Hollywood is more than happy to feed our need for unhealthy food choices via sitcoms and commercials.
As I eluded to in another posting, most of Black media is full of these types of commercials. Why is it that with all of these findings as it relates to effects of fast food among Blacks, Black media has not taken a firm stand against these outlets? This is an issue that I will try to tackle in my next posting on this issue.
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