Fast food high

Obesity is a problem in the United States, and one might point a finger, or a french fry, at the multi-billion dollar fast food industry.
I have always been a fan of fast food, but I recently did an informative speech in my Public Speaking class on the dangers of fast food and the rise of the billion-dollar industry. The research I stumbled upon opened my eyes quite a bit and made me realize how important eating healthy is to our bodies.
In 1921, White Castle opened its doors in Wichita, Kan. as the first hamburger chain, according to a report on NPR.org. Created as a way to get food to customers at a quicker rate, the fast food industry has become an enormous one.  In 2008, McDonald’s claimed its net profit had soared 80 percent from the previous fiscal year due to a large demand of low-cost meals, according to breitbart.com. In other words, McDonald’s made a profit of $4.3 billion.
With chains such as McDonald’s claiming more profit than ever before, it seems apparent to me that people are not too concerned about the unhealthy habits that form from eating too many cheeseburgers and drinking too many Cokes.
Obesity is connected to your body mass index. For example, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Web site, a person standing at 5-foot-9 is considered healthy at a weight between 125 and 168. If that same person weighed more than 203 pounds, he or she would be considered overweight.
In 1989, 21 states had obesity rates between 10 and 14 percent, and there were zero states with a rate higher than 15 percent. Two decades later, the same cannot be said. In 2008, Colorado was the only state with an obesity rate of less than 20 percent, and six states have a rate at more than 30 percent.
So how much blame can we assign the fast food industry? Ronald McDonald and the Burger King are not coming to our homes and jamming chicken burgers down our throats. Eventually, we have to blame ourselves.
We have to learn to better control ourselves and force ourselves to start purchasing healthier foods.
I know the cost of healthy food is not cheap, but at some point we have to choose between our wallets and our health.