Food is the necessity of all living beings. We will die if we do not have a meal. Having food is sufficient to live but to live a healthy life we should have a proper meal. A healthy meal leads to a healthy mind and healthy living. We always choose good things for us but when it comes to food, we get attracted towards unhealthy food. People should not forget that health is wealth. Therefore, one should always prefer health over everything.
Short and Long Junk Food Essay in English
Here, I’m presenting a long essay on Junk Food. This essay would be helpful for students of all classes, especially kids. It will also be helpful to know the harmful effects of junk food.
10 Lines Essay on Junk Food (100 – 120 Words)
1) The foods that have high calories and low nutrition value are considered Junk foods.
2) The word ‘junk’ depicts harmful or unhealthy food.
3) Snack, soda, cake, processed food, etc belong to the category of junk food.
4) Junk foods are harmful to our bodies and health.
5) Increased weight, mental issues, depression, etc are other harmful effects of junk food.
6) Junk foods are popular due to their cheap prices and easy availability.
7) Children and youngsters are the main targets of junk food.
8) Fast foods, directly and indirectly, lead to diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, etc.
9) Working women mostly prefer junk and fast food over healthy food to save time.
10) Various countries have taken several steps to regulate and control junk food.
Short Essay on Junk Food (200 – 250 Words)
Junk foods are foods that are rich in calories but lacking in nutrients. They are not healthy for our bodies. They take more time to digest and are bad for both our physical and mental health. Junk foods do not feed your hunger, you will always feel hungry and end up having more and more unhealthy food.
Obesity is the synonym of junk food. They have high amounts of sugar quantity and thus contribute lots of fat to our body. Children may suffer from increasing weight, inadequate growth, depression, and so on due to over consumption of junk foods. However, junk food invites lots of diseases like hypertension, cancer, heart-related issues, diabetes, etc.
We all know that a balanced diet is what our body needs to work properly but due to many reasons, we are attracted to junk food. Junk foods are easy and quick to prepare. In addition to being affordable, they are easily available in the market. Therefore, people who don’t have time or don’t want to cook, easily step into junk food. Packaged foods, unhealthy chips, cokes, sodas, pastries, pizzas, noodles, most of the fast foods, etc come in the category of junk food.
If you don’t want to fall sick frequently, try having healthy food instead of junk food. They only look delicious but actually do not contain the adequate amount of nutrition value that a healthy body requires.
Long Essay on Junk Food and Its Harmful Effects (1500 Words)
Introduction
Today’s generation is influenced by junk food. They mostly prefer chips and cokes over a healthy diet like sprouts and milk. Junk food is replacing healthy food. But they are unaware of the upcoming consequences they are going to face in the future.
Sometimes people consider junk food as fast food, but both these terms are different from each other. Fast food is the name given to the time of making the food. As they can be prepared quickly. However, some fast foods come in the category of junk food as they are unhealthy but not all fast foods are junk food.
What Is Junk Food?
In many terms, the word Junk is used for garbage or things with little value. In the case of food, this word depicts unhealthy. Junk food is the category of food and drinks which contains high calories and low nutrition values. Most of the junk foods are snacks and fast foods.
Junk foods are unhealthy as they contain high fat and sugar. Therefore, HFSS (High in fat, salt, and sugar) is another name given to junk foods. Junk foods are usually processed food that leads to various health-related issues. However, junk food will not affect the body if consumed in a moderate amount.
Examples Of Junk Food
Today, several junk foods are flooding the market. Some of the junk foods, mainly preferred by the youngster are given below:
- Snacks like potato chips, nachos, French fries, etc.
- Sugary drinks like coke and soda.
- Cake and pastries.
- Some type of fast food.
- Processed food.
- Pizza and burgers.
Junk Food Consequences/ Disadvantages/ Side Effects
Junk food lacks essential nutrients like carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, minerals, etc. Apart from low nourishment they also have various side effects.
- Feel Empty: Eating fast food makes you feel hungry. Junk food has low satiation value which leads to an over intake of unhealthy food. This takes the place of healthy food and leads to various diseases.
- Mental Issue Like Depression: Fast food contains ingredients that raise various mental issues. It also generates violent behavior among teenagers. Depression is one of the most common issues among youngsters.
- Inadequate Growth And Development: For proper growth and development of mind and body, a proper balanced diet is necessary. But today teenagers at the time of their development are approaching junk food which is harmful to them.
- Increase Weight: The major problem teenagers and youngsters are facing today is increasing weight. Everyone is well aware of the consequences of increased weight.
- Promote Acne Skin-Related Issues: Apart from various health issues, junk foods are also responsible for promoting acne and other skin-related issues.
Junk Food Diseases/ Health Issues
Over intake of junk food and fast food of some type may lead to various health-related issues. Some of the major diseases caused due to them are as follows:
- Obesity: The most common health issue due to junk food is obesity. Sitting for a long time and having junk food will lead to an excess amount of calories than required in our body. This fat will also lead to other health-related issues.
- Hypertension: We all know that junk food contains an extra amount of salt and sugar. The extreme intake of salt that is sodium is responsible for high blood pressure or hypertension.
- Atherosclerosis: The high cholesterol level in the body chokes the artery due to which the flow of blood and oxygen is disturbed. This could result in clogged arteries or atherosclerosis.
- Cancer: Consuming junk food is not directly responsible for causing cancer. However, the various health issues caused by it may constitute a condition that may high the risk of diseases like cancer.
- Heart Disease: Increased saturated fat, cholesterol, calories, etc will lead to heart related issues in our body.
- Diabetes Type 2: The various disorders caused due to intake of junk food like obesity, high blood pressure, tension, overweight, etc weaken the insulin production in our body, therefore, increase the chances of type 2 diabetes.
Junk Food Vs Healthy Food
Healthy foods are foods loaded with high nutrition values. They are foods rich in vitamins and minerals which are necessary for a healthy life. It helps to keep you healthy. On the other hand, junk foods are processed food that is harmful to our health.
Natural foods have low calories and saturated fat. They are the major source of energy, which is required to carry out our daily work. Opposing these, junk foods lack energy and are filled with high calories and fat. This results in gaining weight and obesity.
Many people prefer fast food due to its cheap prices over fresh food. But saving money on food and later suffering from serious disease is not a sign of a sensible human. Better you should opt for a healthy living instead of chasing money.
Why Is Junk Food So Popular?
There are multiple reasons why people mostly prefer junk foods over healthy food. One of the most common reasons is availability. Junk foods are easily available in shops and restaurants. Another reason is the cheap price of junk foods. The prices of junk foods are less expensive than healthy foods like fruits and vegetables. Therefore, people mostly prefer these unhealthy foods to save money.
Fast food comes with a variety of flavors which makes them tasty. It is available in different shapes and sizes to grab children’s attention. The packaging is done in such a way that attracts people especially youngsters.
Junk food is convenient to cook, no extra preparation is required. People, who do not know cooking, find it as an easy way to feed the hunger. Junk foods become a part of the life of women who are working or who do not get time to cook food from their busy schedules.
Measures To Control The Intake
Junk foods are very addictive and hence it is quite tough to quit their intake in one day. Some measures that can be taken at an individual level to control the harmful effect of junk food are mentioned below.
People always used to have fast food when in a hurry. You can opt for fast food containing higher nutrients instead of that having unsaturated fat. Choosing the right food when away from home would help to a great extent like always prefer food with low sugar in it.
Today pizza is the first choice of every kid. Therefore, making pizza with multi-grains with healthy vegetable toppings will be a good option to replace junk foods with healthy foods. Another healthy option is choosing fruit juice and green tea over other unhealthy beverages. Having junk food in a minimum restricted amount would not be harmful to the body.
Steps Taken By Government To Control Over Intake Of Junk Food
By seeing the consequences and health-related issues among people due to junk food, many countries have taken steps to control the over intake.
- Sin Tax: Sin tax is a type of tax that is imposed on items that are considered harmful for an individual as well as society. The government has implemented this tax to reduce the overtake of junk foods from society. Many countries like Mexico, Hungary, Denmark, Norway, etc have imposed food taxes.
- Ban The Sale To Children: Another major step is taken by the government in some states of Mexico. They have banned the sale of junk and unhealthy food to minors.
- Stop Advertising: According to a survey, advertising is a major reason for increasing the consumption of junk foods among youngsters. The UK committee proposed to ban advertisements with cartoon characters promoting unhealthy foods.
Conclusion
Having junk foods occasionally would not affect the health but replacing a healthy diet and having junk food in our regular diet is not acceptable. It is high time when the Government of every country should make some guidelines regarding junk food. Rules and restrictions should be made to regulate healthy food supply. People should be made aware of its harmful effect. A healthy population will lead to the healthy growth of the country.
I expect the above-given essay on Junk Food will be helpful for you to know what exactly junk food is. I also request all the young generations to take a properly balanced diet instead of having excess junk food.
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FAQs: Frequently Asked Question on Junk Food
Ans. No, not all fast foods are considered junk food. For example, salad is fast food with high nutrient value.
Ans. Fast food begins in Britain with the first fish and chips shop, which opened in the 1860s.
Ans. Junk food like dark chocolates is considered good for health when taken in moderate quantities.
Ans. The first fast-food restaurant was White Castle, founded in 1921.
Ans. The United States is the largest consumer of fast food.