Fast Food Nation The Dark Side of the All-American Meal

Question: Write an expository essay by creating a research question on a topic discussed in Fast Food Nation? Answer: The book Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal was written by Eric Schlosser who is an investigative journalist by profession (Schlosser). The author examines the effects of various global and/or local influences that the fast food industry of United States of America has on the lives of the people. The book was at first turned in to a serial of the same name in the year 1999 by the Rolling Stone, and was adapted into a film of eh very same name in the year 2006, which was directed by Richard Linklater. The book had such influence on the general mass that it has even been compared to the classic novel The Jungle which was authored by Upton Sinclair. The book has two prominent sections: the first part tilted as "The American Way", depicts the starting days of the fast food industry of the United States Of America, keeping in mind that the industry has the post second world war days as its background. The second half of the book titled as "Meat and Potatoes" describes the process of mechanization that the fast food industry has gone through: in which the author describes the various chemical flavoring that are added to the fast food being served these days, the process in which the cattle and/or the chicken that are served in these food grown and the risks that are associated with the consumption of this meet, the unhealthy condition in which the workers of the beef industry are forced to work: along with the global effect of this industry. However, the topic that perhaps draws most of the attention is where the author questions the marketing policies adapted by the giants of the fast food industry that makes them target the adole scent children as their potential customers. This research being proposed will take in to account the various strategies that are adopted by the fast food chains in luring the adolescent children and its effects (Haugen, Musser and Schlosser). Research question: What are the effects of the marketing strategies adapted by the fast food industry of the US on the health of the adolescent children? Sources used to answer the question: Source1: Trends in Exposure to Television Food Advertisements Among Children and Adolescents in the United States. Reference: Powell, Lisa M., Glen Szczypka, and Frank J. Chaloupka. "Trends in exposure to television food advertisements among children and adolescents in the United States."Archives of pediatrics adolescent medicine164.9 (2010): 794-802. Annotation: The article was published in the year 2010 in JAMA Pediatrics. This article presents a data set that has been prepared by using television ratings so as to examine the extent to which various food advertisements are being targeted to the adolescents in the United States of America. The study was conducted for a period of 4 years during which all the data were collected and analyzed. Credibility: The source is very credible because all the names of the authors, along with their designation have been provided in the article. The article was published on the online version of the JAMA Pediatrics in the year. The article also provides the sources from which their data set was collected. Help in answering the research question: The paper provides a detailed analysis of the marketing advertisement policies taken by fast food organizations and their contents, that target the young adults and the children of the country. Source 2: Health Effects of Media on Children and Adolescents Reference: Strasburger, Victor C., Amy B. Jordan, and Ed Donnerstein. "Health effects of media on children and adolescents."Pediatrics125.4 (2010): 756-767. Annotation: The article provides a detailed report on the effects of media on the health of children. Credibility: Highly Credible. Help in answering the research question: Has no information about the effect of fast food advertisements on children, but has data related to how children are affected by media branding in general, which might be useful. Source 3: The association between the geography of fast food outlets and childhood obesity rates in Leeds, UK Reference: Fraser, Lorna K., and Kimberley L. Edwards. "The association between the geography of fast food outlets and childhood obesity rates in Leeds, UK."Health place16.6 (2010): 1124-1128. Annotation: The article provides a detailed report on how the proximity to fast food chain is directly related to the obesity rates among children. Credibility: Highly Credible. Help in answering the research question: The article statistically proves that the proximity to fast food chains increases the rate obesity in children and adolescents: the statistical data set will be helpful in solving the research question. Source 4: Associations of Television Content Type and Obesity in Children Reference: Zimmerman, Frederick J., and Janice F. Bell. "Associations of television content type and obesity in children."American Journal of Public Health100.2 (2010): 334. Annotation: Credibility: Highly Credible. Help in answering the research question: The article highlights on the relationship between the obesity of the children and the contents of the television shows and/ or marketing promotions that they are subjected to, which understanding of which is essential to find out the answers to the research question. Source 5: The Effects offast food on the Body Reference: Healthline,. 'Medical Information Trusted Health Advice: Healthline'.Healthline.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 29 June 2015. Annotation: The article provides a list of the ill effects that fast food has on human body. Credibility: Published on a website, not very credible. Help in answering the research question: Not very helpful to answering the question directly, but provides a list of the diseases that occur due to excessive intake of fast food. The materials cited above indicate many international researches are being conducted in the domain, thus the research project has a much greater chance of being successful, if conducted in the right direction.