## Step 2 - Reading

Fast food

You are going to read a text about fast food.

- Read the text.
- While reading, think about these questions:
  - What happens in the USA that doesn’t happen here?
  - How do you feel about that?

Fast food 1 Fast food is cheap, easy and quick. Fast food companies spend millions of dollars each year trying to make young people believe that fast food is cool. The average American eats three burgers and four orders of French fries a week. Is it any wonder that 14% of American teenagers are obese? 2 It’s fine to eat fast food occasionally as part of a healthy diet. But fast food is high in fat and calories, so if your favourite meal is a burger and fries, you could easily become obese. Obesity could lead to other diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and arthritis. 3 There’s no escape from fast food for American teens. Fast food companies give money to US schools to help them buy sports and computer equipment. In return, schools place advertisements for the fast food companies in their hallways and on the sides of their school buses. Fast food companies also sell cheap fast food in school cafeterias and sponsor school books. 4 You might say: but you don’t have to order fast food, you can choose a healthier option. However, studies show that adverts in and around schools affect the food choices students make in the school cafeteria. Even students whose parents were trying to teach them healthy eating habits were influenced. That means that fast food companies are undermining parents’ efforts to keep their children healthy. It also undermines nutrition education. 5 Now, America is starting to fight back against the fast food companies. The two biggest states in the US, California and Texas, may stop serving fast food and soda in school cafeterias. The American government may bring in special laws for preventing and treating obesity.

Do the exercises.