AMERICAN FRY.

• Author: VILBIG, PETER
• Position: Teaching children how to avoid fast foods and stay healthy

Fast food is as American as deep-fried rectangular apple pie, but there's another side to the all-American meal you may not know about

FOCUS: Fast Food Is Everywhere, But It May Be More Dangerous Than Teens Know

TEACHING OBJECTIVES

To help students understand the growing concerns about fast food, specifically that it contributes to obesity and that it poses more-dangerous health risks to those who consume it regularly.

Discussion Questions:

* What did you learn from reading this article that most surprised or disturbed you?

* Would you consider cutting back on your consumption of fast food?

* Do fast-food restaurants take unfair advantage of teen workers, or offer them an easy way to earn spending money?

* Is the sameness of chain fast-food restaurants good or bad?

CLASSROOM STRATEGIES

Debate: Discuss the evidence that fast food contains high levels of fat and sodium, and sometimes dangerous bacteria. Remind students about nutritional labels on packaged foods. Debate this question: Should fast-food restaurants be required to list the ingredients in their products? (Some chains do this already, but the effect on customers' orders isn't clear. McDonald's once sold a "McLean" burger as a healthy choice. But even though blind taste tests found it to be more flavorful, consumers didn't bite.)

Research/Cooperative Learning: Discuss fast-food ads. (McDonald's annual ad budget is estimated at $1.5 billion.) Students might videotape TV ads for fast-food restaurants. What points do the ads make--and avoid? How accurate are they? What points do the images suggest?

Next, discuss cost. Have students research the cost of a fast-food hamburger, fries, and soft drink. How much would a similar serving cost at home, if they bought the ingredients at a supermarket?

Students might argue that convenience is worth the cost. But the experiment should dispel myths about economy. If any students are attending a Memorial Day picnic, have them calculate the cost of the food if they bought it at a fast-food restaurant.

Critical Thinking/Writing: Solicit opinions on government's inability to fine meat packers. Does government have a responsibility to make sure food is safe? Students can write their opinions in a letter to their representatives in Congress and to their local newspaper.

at Montgomery Mall in suburban Bethesda, Maryland, crowds from nearby high schools flood the food court, piling their trays high with burgers, fries, pizza slices, and chicken nuggets.

For Adam Specter, 18, chowing with a group of friends, this is lunch--nearly every day. The reason is simple. "Fast food," he says, "is everywhere."

In urban Pittsburgh, J.J. Stanko, 17, calls McDonald's or Burger King "the last-ditch choice" among a cornucopia of ethnic restaurants. Yet he finds himself sneaking into McDonald's regularly after the mom and pop restaurants in his neighborhood are shuttered for the night.

In rural Milton, North Carolina, Joseph Dawson, 15, has to drive two towns over to find a fast-food joint. Yet television ads invade his living room, lifting him out of his chair and onto the road for a burger. "They'll be showing that flaming burger," he says, "and you just sort of want to go on and get up and get you one."

From city to suburb to wide-open rural countryside, fast food has become a common denominator of teen life, circa 2001. The equation runs like this: fast-paced life plus fast-food outlets equal teens packing away burgers and fries or some other fast food at an average rate of three times a week. With annual earnings of $110 billion in the U.S. alone--nearly a third more than Americans spend on higher education--the fast-food industry quite simply has planted its arches and brilliantly glowing signs in every corner of America. Yet few Americans have any idea how those prepackaged burgers and chicken tenders wind up on the tray in front of them, or what dangers to their health might be lurking there.

UNHAPPY MEALS

That blissful ignorance may be coming to an end. With the publication this spring of his best-selling book, Fast Food Nation, journalist Eric Schlosser has systematically peeled the pop-top off the nation's fast-food industry for a peek inside. Schlosser warns that a lack of safety standards exposes Americans to the risk of serious illnesses from...