AN ENORMOUS TRUTH:
OBESITY IN THE UNITED STATES

The research will provide useful information that will determine if the fast food industry is responsible for obesity, which is a rapidly growing public health issue in United States.

Prepared for
Professor Eugene Fregetto, Marketing 452

Research completed by Team 7:

Sara Garcia – (708) 770.8682 Garcia.sara59@gmail.com
Jessica Gardeck – (847) 363.3389 jgarde4@uic.edu
Lisa Elizabeta Komolova – (630) 857.8129 lisakomolova@gmail.com
Krunali Sheth – (630) 903.8320 ksheth2@uic.edu

February, 2012

The need for the project

A large amount of the United State’s population is suffering from obesity. Throughout the years the well-being of the American population has shown a negative movement and a large number of people are experiencing a decline in their health. Obesity being a common health issue in United States is concerning to health care providers because it is progressing into a costly expense for those companies. The amount of fast food restaurants in United States is constantly increasing and to improve the reputation of junk food the restaurants have been trying to introduce reinvented products with a healthier approach. Unfortunately the new products lines and its menu alternatives are still not living up to the standard of a proper diet. The research will provide us with useful information about obesity, people’s attitudes towards fast food and their life-style choices. The information will determine if the fast food industry is responsible for obesity, which is a rapidly growing public health issue in United States, who should be held accountable for disease’s high cost.

Define the problem and suspected causes

The American way of life is suspected to be one of the major causes of the problem. In most households, both parents are working to support a lifestyle that is said to be the American dream. Parents in today’s economy do not have time to cook a well balanced meal, leaving fast food as a quick fix. A large amount of people have poor knowledge about nutrition and what is considered a healthy diet. Stores make it convenient to pick up processed or frozen food, and many parents turns to that alternative because they lack skills in the kitchen and do not know how to prepare a traditional home-cooked meal. Fast food can easily become a life-style that offers affordable pricing and fast delivery; however, it has tremendous problems because it does not offer proper nutrition, it has high calories, large sodium counts, etc. Public health experts at the Institute of Medicine argue that if Americans consume less sodium it will decrease amount of people who suffer from obesity, and it would also reduce the risk of with high blood pressure and hypertension. Parental influence is crucial because children do not have the ability to prepare meals on their own and they rely on their parents to provide them with nutritional food. Advertising agencies do not make it easy for parents because they are targeting children with their commercial campaigns. It is attractive to children with the “Kids Meals” that come with toys that leave them begging their parents to eat at a particular fast food restaurant. The sides and drink options are not healthy either. According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fruit punch, apple juice, lemonade and sodas are the drinks with the most calories and sugars added. Temptation of fast food, snacks, sweets and candy surrounds the American population; therefore, self control is a vital trait people need to learn in order to change their eating habits and improve their health. Improving one’s eating habits is a lifestyle choice that each individual needs to make for themselves. Research objectives

Over time, the American population has shown a negative trend towards overall health and wellness. Obesity being a common health issue in United States is concerning to health care providers because it is progressing into a costly expense for those companies. United Health group is one of those organizations that have to pay for its customer’s unhealthy habits and food choices. The amount of fast food restaurants in United States is constantly increasing and to improve the reputation of junk food the restaurants have been trying to introduce reinvented products with a healthier approach. Unfortunately the new products lines and its menu alternatives are still not living up to the standard of a proper diet. Therefore, our group proposes the following question, “Should consumers blame the fast food industry for increasing obesity rates in the United States?”

According to CBS news, “last year alone, children ages 6-11 saw 26 percent more ads for McDonald's than they did just two years earlier.” In today’s society, children are watching television more and more. It is obvious that if an ad for a delicious “happy meal” is shown during the commercials of a child’s favorite show, the child will be intrigued to visit the “Golden Arches.” When fast food restaurants introduced children’s “play-place” in their establishments they catered to the younger generations and therefore they are contributing to the obesity epidemic in the United States.

A research report titled “Are Fast Food Restaurants an Environmental Risk Factor for Obesity?” studied the correlation between fast food and obesity. This research report analyzed different variables that contribute to obesity in the United States. It delved into different factors that lead to people eating more frequently at fast food restaurants. Some of the variables this study looked at included gender, education, marital status, work, and quantity of times the participants ate fast food per week among other variables.

Lustig, a medical doctor in UCSF’s Department of Pediatrics, suggests that sugar should be regulated by the government because obesity is a disease that shortens lives. The article “Sugar Shouls be Regulated as Toxin” posted on Live Science is describing how American’s unusually large sugar intake is contributing to the nation’s serious health problems. A household without a proper meal preparation or nutritional diet will most likely have obese family members. The scientists also suggest that fast food restaurants have an effect on American families and their eating habits. In order to tackle this serious public health problem United States and other countries should reinforce new regulations including higher taxing on sugar products and fast food chains that incorporate a large amount of sugar into their products.

In the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics the article, “Obesity and Health System Reform: Private vs Public Responsibility”, discussed the importance of mutual involvement between the government, employer and individuals. Obesity is a major factors in public health issues and improving ones eating habits can saves thousands of lives each year. Researches and doctors are in agreement that high blood pressure, hypertension and obesity are related with the over consumption of non-nutritious products. In order to limit government interventions on obesity different reforms, such as exchanges and insurance market reforms, need to be implemented.

In an article titled, “Obesity and Health System Reform,” Tony Yang and Len Nichols discuss the effects that the obesity epidemic has had on America regarding billions of added dollars in health care spending. “If the proportion of obese population had stayed unchanged (since the 1970’s), then health care expenditures in America would be approximately 10 percent less on a per capita average than they are today,” (Yang/Nichols, 2011). This statement concludes that obesity related health issues have caused the majority (20-30 percent ) of health care cost expenditures. Yang and Nichols suggest the importance of health and wellness programs in businesses to decrease these expenditures. In further research, the two discover two common elements to a successful wellness program: (1) a supportive corporate cultured, and (2) worker engagement (Yang/Nichols, 2011).

To explain, the article describes the efforts of Johnson & Johnson. The company realized that of all health costs, obesity related causes were among the most expensive. Therefore, Johnson & Johnson began to offer employees the opportunity to participate in a health management program, and in turn, the company would grant a $500 discount off of all annual employee premiums. As a result, Johnson & Johnson has saved over $200 per enrolled worker as a result of this program since 1995 (Yang/Nichols, 2011). To conclude, companies should get involved to lower medical costs due to obesity. Wellness programs, as Yang and Nichols present, are a great way to encourage employees to develop a healthier lifestyle and save medical costs as an organization.

The purpose of our research is to gain more knowledge about obesity as a public health issue, find out how it affects the welfare of United States and if insurance providers should be responsible for paying for the negligent lifestyle that many Americans have chosen. Team7 hopes to become more educated on the causes and influences that the fast food industry has on the people in United States. We believe our research will be able to provide us with answers about obesity being a common health issue, why it is an increasing problem, who should be held responsible for the declining heath in United States, and who should pay for resulting high cost.

Constructs and operational definitions

(4) Specify constructs and operational definitions. (See pages 101-102, p288.)
Here I was thinking maybe we could do the questionnaire, then 2 focus group with 5 people in each group (our own friends) and 1 experiment. The focus groups would answer the questions from our questionnaire, we would take notes and write a brief summary of what we observed. For the experiment I was thinking we can just do the same thing as with the focus groups, 5 friends that answer the questions from our questionnaire, then we give them the “treatment” which would for example be watching “Food Inc.” and then give them some more questions to answer. That way we can see if they opinion about fast-food changed or stayed the same. We could split this up like this: 2 people take one focus group each, and the other 2 people take the experiment. What do you think?/ Lisa i was thinking about this the other night too! definitely a good idea- Jessica I think that is a good idea, but would we need to do the experiment on the same focus groups we asked the questions to or no?Also what constructs do you want to use and which operational definitions ?/Sara this is what I came up with for the basic constructs and their operational definitions. If you ladies think we should add more please do so. I was also wondering if we should use healthcare as a construct operationalize that too?/ Sara answer: yes, I think if we ad healthcare it would be great/lisa

Constructs: obesity, fast food, demographics, lifestyle
Operational definitions:

Obesity: A condition that is affecting countless individuals in which their weight is over the average that it should be, as decided by their height and age, by more than 15 pounds. In relation to Body Mass Index (BMI) measures, someone possessing a BMI of 30 or more in considered obese.

Fast food: We will define fast food as any food that is purchased at a restaurant and is prepared within 5 or 10 minutes at most. Fast food is usually greasy and high in fat. We will measure proximity of the fats food restaurants to an individuals home, school, or work. Along with proximity we will measure quantity of fast food eaten, how often it is eaten, and how advertising affects a consumer’s choice to buy and eat fast food.

Demographics: For this research report we define demographics as the ethnic background, age, weight, income, education level, gender, employment status, and marital status of an individual and if these considerations affect whether an individual is obese or not.

Lifestyle: For our research purposes we define lifestyle as the way an individual lives their life. We will use how active they are in terms of exercise and physical activity participation, their current eating habits, and past lifestyle habits that have transformed their health and how they chose to eat.

Healthcare:
(5) Provide you model in the form of y = a + b1x1 + b2x2 + . . . + bnxn + c obesity= fast food + demographics + lifestyle
I can do this, I just need to know what variables you ladies want to include in our research. I still have the example Professor Freggetto wrote on the board during the first weeks of class and I took notes on what everything meant . I don’t it should be too hard./Sara POOR
KNOWLEDGE
FAST FOOD
POVERTY
Obesity

OBESITY
FACTORS
DRINKING
ALHONOL
OVEREATING/
SNACKING
LIFESTYLE
CHEAP
PRICING
SMOKING
HEAVY
ADVERSTICING
COUPOINS
HEALTH
ISSUES
NO
EXERCISE
LAZYNESS
INSECURITY
STRESS
PARENTAL
INFLUENCE
POOR
NUTRITUON
Factors

PROCESSED FOOD

INFORMED CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN A RESEARCH STUDY

Study title: An Enormous Truth: Obesity in the United States

Dear participant,

We are inviting you participate in a research project to study obesity in the United States. Along with this letter is a short questionnaire that asks a variety of questions about your lifestyle habits. We are asking you to look over the questionnaire and, if you choose to do so, complete it and return it back to us. The questionnaire takes about 10 minutes to complete.

The results of this project will be used for Professor Eugene Fregetto’s Marketing 462 class at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Through your participation we hope to understand the causes and factors of obesity in the United States. We hope that the results of the survey will be useful for Americans in learning the consequences to their health and help improve their lifestyle.

There are no risks involved and I guarantee that the collected responses will not be identified with your personally. We promise not to share any information that identifies you outside the research group. We hope you will take the time to complete the questionnaire; however, your participation is voluntary and there is no penalty if you chose not to participate. If you agree to participate, you may keep the form and complete the survey. If you change your mind during the process, you may stop at any time. You do not have to state your name on the survey. Regardless of whether you choose to participate in the study, please inform us if you would like a summary of our findings.

If you have any questions regarding the questionnaire or the study please feel free to contact us, our information is listed below. You may also contact our professor and research advisor at fregetto@uic.edu.

Sincerely,

Team 7 of Marketing 452
462group7@gmail.com

Survey Questions 1. Gender (male/female)
2. Age (15-25/ 26-35/ 36-45/ 46-55)
3. Ethnicity (Caucasian/ African American/ Hispanic/ Asian/ etc)
4. Education (no college/ some college/ bachelors/ masters/ higher education)
5. Income (20.000-35.000/ 35.000-65.000/ 65.000-100.000/ 100.000-higher)
6. Status (single/ married/ parent/etc)
7. Employment status (working/ non-working)
8. Weight (most recent)
9. How often do you prepare meals in your household? (everyday/ 2-3 a week/ once a week/ never)
10. How many times do you dine out during the week? (1-3/ 3-5/ never)
11. How often do you visit fast food restaurants? (never/ once a month/ 3-5times month/ 1-3 a week/ once a day)
12. Do you like the taste of fast food? (yes/ no)
13. What is the reason you eat fast food? (im too lazy to cook/ I do not know how to prepare healthy meals/ I am in a hurry/ it is a cheap food option/ I like the taste of fast-food)
14. Were you eating fast-food during your childhood? If so, how often? (yes/ no)
15. Do you consider fast-food being nutritional and healthy? (yes/ no)
16. How close do you live to fast food restaurants? (0-2 miles/ 3-5 miles/ 5-10)
17. When was the last time you ate fast food? (within 24 hours, within 48 hours, within the past week, within the past month, more than a month ago)
18. What type of quality do you expect when you eat fast food products? (poor, medium, high-quality)
19. Are you trying to eat less fast food? (yes/ no/ I do not care)
20. How successful do you think is First Lady Michelle Obama’s program to reduce childhood obesity is going to be?
21. How often do you exercise during the week? (everyday/ 2-3 a week/ once a week/ never)
22. How many hours a day do you watch television? (never/ 1-3 hrs/ 4-6 hrs/ 7-above)
23. How many times do you eat per day? ( 1 meal/ 2 meals/ 3 meals/ 4 meals/ 5 meals/
24. Do you eat snacks throughout the day? If so, how often? (every hour/ couple times a day/ once a day/ never)
25. How big of portions do you eat? (a scale to measure size)
26. How likely are you to buy fast food because of commercials, advertising, and coupons?
27. How often do you buy fast food when there are promotional sales going on for a limited time?
28. How often do you buy fast food because advertisements portrait it as something appealing?
29. How likely are you to buy a fast food product if you see there is a promotional sale for it?
30. If there is a limit to the one-time purchase during a promotional sale, are you likely to get back in line or have someone else buy the product for you?
31. When are you most likely to eat fast food? (morning, afternoon, evening, midnight, past midnight, between meals)
32. How likely are you to get a meal instead of a single product when you buy fast food?
33. Are you aware of the health risks that can be associated with fast food?
34. Have you seen any of the following films: Supersize Me, Food Inc, Fast Food Nation? If yes, did seeing this film change any of your dieting decisions? (Yes/No)
35. In your opinion, how can the fast food industry improve? (open ended)
36. Do you have health insurance?
37. Is your health insurance provided by an employer or paid privately by you?
37. Do you have diabetes?
38. Do you have anyone if your primary family who is obese?
39. How much does the fast food industry contribute to obesity?
40. Would you agree that obesity is a public health problem in United States?
41. Do you have a gym membership?
42. How much should the government be involved in the fast food industry?
43. Does United States need more regulations and laws towards fast food products?
43. What is your preference between salty and sweet snacks/food?
44. Do you smoke? If so, how often?
45. Do you drink alcohol? If so, how often?
46. Do you tend to eat more when you are under stress?
47. Should United States implement an appropriate “fast-food age” in order to prevent child obesity?