Tuesday, 2 February 2016

LO-1 Fast Food Research


Research Method - Fast Food

Name: Abdulla Awad Aida Hejail
Student ID: H00280536  
Abu Dhabi higher college of technology



Research Method - Fast Food

Mind Map






Introduction
            The focus of this research report is on health and on social and environmental aspects of fast food that is consumed on a daily basis. To examine these aspects, I will initially look at challenges behind the consumption of fast food. Afterwards, I will identify the reasons (price, quality, advertisement, taste, menu or time) behind the daily consumption of fast food. Through effective use of these aspects, I will easily analyze the health risks and threats that occur after the consumption of fast food. I believe that this topic will be beneficial for such people that consume fast food on the daily or weekly routine. Finally this report will cover proposals and a primary questionnaire that is based on the research topic.


Background
1.      Health Risk of Fast Food
Fast food is richer in calories than other food cuisine; therefore, usage of fast food must be low. Furthermore, if fast food is excessively consumed then it might lead to health risks such as mental disorder, obesity, polycystic ovary syndrome, sleep apnoea, arthritis, liver damage and stroke, etc.
Over here, it is important to examine that if a person consumes sweetened beverages then the person might face health risks with respect to diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Instead of such health risks, still large numbers of people are eating fast food (Odegaard et. al, 2012). Around 59.36% of people eat fast food once in a week or month. Among these 59.36% of people, 26.98% are facing health risks especially obesity and diabetes (Nestle, 2013).



2.      Regular Use of Fast Food & Overweight
Regular use of fast food increases the weight of people especially among children and teenagers. Furthermore, it augments the diabetes 2, cardiovascular risk, obesity, and illness. However, I argue that overeating increases weight which in turn enhances health risk. Thus, individual consumers should reduce the overeating activities rather than reducing the consumption of fast food. In today’s era, people are involved in multiple activities, and therefore, they require enough food to eat. As the result of which, they overeat; and face health challenges. Individuals can eat dietary food with an intention to reduce the threat of health risk (Sanchez-Villegas et. al, 2012).
           
3.      Behavior & Attitude of Children
Ritz et. al (2012) conducted a research among adolescents with respect to weight related behavior and attitude. According to the research, parents are the main source behind creating the environment of fast food consumption. In short, parents do not promote the development of healthy eating behavior which in turn negatively impacts the weight and health of teenagers. Furthermore, it can be added that the UAE is one of the largest countries where young generation consume fast food regularly compared to healthy food which has caused severe disorders in them. Over here, it is important to examine that almost 71.97% of the population in UAE consumes fast food; most of them are teenagers that come under the age bracket of 15 to 20 years.



4.      Benefits of Fast Food
I believe that large numbers of people are consuming fast food in order to reduce wastage of time, as it is easily cook by the individual. Therefore, most of the people in UAE eat fast food instead of nutritious and healthy food. Over here, it is important to observe that almost 69.87% of the women in UAE are employee therefore, they do not have enough time to cook healthy food. Hence, they prefer to buy or order fast food from restaurants. In short, fast food assists working women in the busy life style where women have to spend enough time to meet the requirement of their jobs and tasks. I further observe that people in UAE are also consuming fast food in order to show their life style to friends, colleagues, family members, lovers, and so on.
Hence, fast food becomes the main aspect behind the showoff of lifestyle among others. In the social circle, whenever people meet with friends, they select fast food restaurants and either order burgers, or other cuisine. Prior to order, people also look at purchase price of the cuisine with an intention to showoff among friends. However, most of the UAE people select fast food due to easy cooking benefits (Basu et. al, 2014).


Proposal
            The thesis statement for this research report is to identify the benefits and health risks behind the consumption of fast food. In the research, I observe that around 71.97% of the people in the UAE consumes fast food; among which most are teenagers that come under the age bracket of 15 to 20 years. The basic reason behind high consumption of fast food is the parent’s motivation, as they promote fast food in order to reduce the wastage of time. However, they must promote healthy food in the lifestyle of children. I further observe that most of the people in the UAE are facing health challenges i.e. obesity, dyslipidemia, polycystic ovary syndrome, sleep apnoea, arthritis, blount disease, liver damage and stroke due to the consumption of fast food.
In order to examine the risks and benefits of fast food, behavior of the consumer, and the factor behind the consumption of fast food; I will conduct primary qualitative research. Primary qualitative data is in a raw form and available in the genuine structure. Interview, questionnaire, and case study are part of the qualitative method. On the other hand, quantitative data can be easily controlled and available in numbers. Online websites and company research reports are some of the common examples of quantitative method. The dependent variable of this research report is the health risk of the human being, while, independent variable is consumption of fast food. For conducting research, a questionnaire will be used to observe the benefits and risks behind the consumption of fast food. Furthermore, 50 respondents will be selected in order to fill the stated primary questionnaire. These respondents will be randomly selected; and thus, no respondents will be forced to take part in filling the questionnaire.











References

Basu, A., Shay, C. M., Colangelo, L., Jacobs, D. R., & Van Horn, L. (2014). Abstract P177: Higher Frequency of Fast Food Consumption is Associated with Lower Likelihood of Meeting Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs): Findings from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study. Circulation, 129(Suppl 1), 1-11. Data Retrieved From: http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/129/Suppl_1/AP177.short
Nestle, M. (2013). Food politics: How the food industry influences nutrition and health (Vol. 3). Univ of California Press. Data Retrieved From: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=39oVBbtt6IEC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=health+risk+for+fast+food&ots=2X1JkaZIQB&sig=IqEjEJlinmF8pzct9A146Y0HMpw#v=onepage&q=health%20risk%20for%20fast%20food&f=false
Odegaard, A. O., Koh, W. P., Yuan, J. M., Gross, M. D., & Pereira, M. A. (2012). Western-style fast food intake and cardio-metabolic risk in an eastern country. Circulation, CIRCULATIONAHA-111. Data Retrieved From: http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/early/2012/05/31/CIRCULATIONAHA.111.084004.full.pdf
Ritz, E., Hahn, K., Ketteler, M., Kuhlmann, M. K., & Mann, J. (2012). Phosphate additives in food—a health risk. Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, 109(4), 49. Data Retrieved From: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3278747/
Sanchez-Villegas, A., Toledo, E., de Irala, J., Ruiz-Canela, M., Pla-Vidal, J., & Martínez-González, M. A. (2012). Fast-food and commercial baked goods consumption and the risk of depression. Public health nutrition, 15(03), 424-432. Data Retrieved From: http://www.neurosafari.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/S1368980011001856a.pdf


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