The Lincoln Log

Since the school year started, student’s bodies have slowly changed. Some have gotten in to better shape and are full of energy from joining sports and eating right, while others seem to have to gone the other way.

Students are seen walking around cramming junk food down their throats or not eating at all. They don’t seem to realize the effects of their poor eating habits. Junk food provides satisfaction at the moment it’s eaten, but the feeling is temporary. After a few hours the food tends to make you feel sluggish and lethargic. Junk food is typically filled with high amounts of empty Calories, unhealthy fats, sugars, and salts. They generally have no nutritional value.

Over consumption can cause several health issues. Some of the major deadly conditions include heart failure, diabetes, and obesity. The type of oil that the majority of junk food is fried or cooked in is hydrogenated. When oils are hydrogenised, they’re hardened to a thick buttery state that makes the food crunchier. These oils may mood taste better, but Trans fats are like poison to the body. It raises the bad cholesterol LDL and lowers the good cholesterol HDL. Trans fat and hydrogenated oils have been linked to cancer, birth defects, heart and liver complications, diabetes, as well as many other diseases.

Salt is an additive in a large amount of food that we eat. One of the short term effects is dehydration. Long term effects include osteoporosis, or a decrease in bone density, Gastric cancer, or stomach cancer, and hypertension, or high blood pressure. Hypertension can lead to cardiac complications, stroke, and heart failure.

According to Dr. Nancy Appleton, sugar is an addictive substance that can intoxicate the human body similarly to drugs. Many people know that sugar contributes to diabetes and tooth decay, but don’t realize its other harmful effects. Sugar increases hyperactivity and anxiety. It then leads to drowsiness and decrease in both physical and mental activity.

Sugar addictiveness makes a major contributor to obesity. It also weakens our eyes, increase the risk of certain types of cancers, and weaken our immune system. While most people recognize granulated white sugars, there are several other harmful types of sugars as well. Some food companies try to cover up the amount of added sugars by listing them out separately in the nutrition facts labels. When reading the ingredients, it starts with the most abundant ingredient to the least amount.

Although we may read sugar near the end of the list, most likely high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, maltose, corn sugar, lump sugar and crystalline dextrose is listed near the top of the list. These strange names are all different forms of sugars and sweeteners. Approximately every four grams of sugar is equal to one teaspoon of sugar and 16 empty calories. It’s suggested that we consume no more than eight teaspoons of added sugars.

At Abraham Lincoln High School, eating habits appear poor for some students. During the two weeks of closed campus, eating habits appeared to be worse. Many students are too busy to prepare food before school, or they can’t or don’t want to purchase food that is available at or around school. This could be due to the fact that the only food available isn’t appealing or they grow tired of it.

At school, the cafeteria food usually doesn’t look great. When it does seem decent, the meal is too small to keep the typical teenager full. The alternative from the beanery is includes junk such as pizzas and burgers. Although they do offer salads, they only offer ranch dressing which is extremely fattening. I dreaded those two weeks of school trapped within campus, starving or eating food I was sick and disgusted of. Some of the food may taste good, but I don’t want to eat it everyday. The school should offer a variety of healthier alternatives that are more appealing rather then the lame apple, orange, or banana.

When students leave school they have more freedom of choice as to what they can eat, but chance are that they’re still purchasing junk food. Junk food is typically cheaper then healthy food and is more ubiquitous. “[A large amount] of food that is available to me [is] junk food; its everywhere,” said senior Andrew Zhao. It’s practically impossible to turn a corner of a busy street and not run smack into a McDonald’s, KFC, Domino’s, some other fast food restaurant, or a corner store with easy access to chips, sodas, and pastries.

Currently the United States has the highest obesity rate in the world. We’ll continue to have the highest rate unless people change their eating habits. Even those who aren’t gaining weight are still getting sick from junk food.