VigorOuS fAsSt FoOd

Like every rose has a thorn, the fast foods, also called "junk food" or "instant food" have their good effects too. Sometimes, because of its easy availability and their delicious taste, people especially the teenagers, get hooked on to it. Foods like noodles, wafers, pastries, pizzas etc. They have lots of vitamins, protein and/or minerals. In the busy and hectic schedule of modern times, people have no time to prepare nutritious food during the day. They have to walk out early in the morning and spend most of the time at workplaces. Thus, they have to depend on the instant foods that are available in restaurants and hotels. This is the prime choice of youngsters for the delicious and tempting taste of junk food.

In every city, there are McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and other restaurants that are ever ready with foodstuffs like burgers and pizzas to serve different taste buds. So, we cannot avoid fast food completely in our day-to-day life considering their taste, easy access, instant delivery and affordability.


From onion rings to double cheeseburgers, fast food is one of the world's fastest growing food types. In Inida Fast Food is growing faster faster and faster.But some of the most rapid growth is occurring in the developing world.


People buy fast food because it's cheap, quick, and heavily promoted. Meals devoured in the car or at our desks are replacing homecooked fare enjoyed with family and friends.




Indian Fast Food


Many of the traditional dishes have been adapted to suit the emerging fast food outlets. For example, the typical meal which called for being served by an ever alert attendant is now offered as a Mini-Meal across the counter. In its traditional version, a plate or a banana leaf was first laid down on the floor or table. Several helpers then waited on the diner, doling out different dishes and refilling as they got over in the plate.

In the fast food version, a plate already arranged with a variety of cooked vegetables and curries along with a fixed quantity of rice and Indian flatbreads is handed out across the counter against a prepaid coupon. The curries and breads vary depending on the region and local preferences. The higher priced ones may add a sweet to the combination.


Presence of a large vegetarian population, who eschew non-vegetarian food, has given rise to outlets which exclusively serve vegetarian fast food. Also, different variety of food may be served depending on the times of the day. Beverages such coffee, tea, soft drinks and fruit juices may also be served in such outlets. Some outlets may additionally have specially designed counters for ice-cream, chaats etc.


Generic Indian Street Food


The street food in India is as diverse as the population, but there are some snacks that you’re likely to find all over the country. Chaat can be anything from a fruit dish with guava, banana, apple or melon, crisp pancakes called paapri, served with yogurt.


Also on the street carts as standard are Pani Puri – hollowed out crispy dough balls with various fillings, Aaloo Tikki, mashed potato and masala patties usually served with a curry called Chholey (chick peas). They are most popular in Northern India in the winter. If you’re on a train, you’ll often be offered a Chaap, a potato patty dipped in flour batter and deep fried, usually dished up with onion slices.




How can you make fast food healthy?


One of the easiest ways is to just watch your portion sizes and understand how many calories and how much fat you add to a meal when you 'super-size' your order. It might seem like a good 'value' to go with the special or large meal sizes, but think about what those extra calories will cost you later as your child tries to burn them off to lose weight.

For example, at McDonald's, the difference between small (210 calories) or medium (450 calories) and Super Size french fries (610 calories) can be 160 to 400 calories! And if instead of a small (16oz ~ 150 calories) or medium (21oz ~ 210 calories) soda, you chose to Super Size it to 42oz (410 calories), you would have added another 200 to 260 calories to your child's meal. If instead of a soda, you went with a 32oz Triple Thick Shake, that would add another 1140 calories!
Your choice of sandwiches can also influence how many calories your child gets. At McDonald's, it can range from 280 (hamburger) or 330 (cheeseburger) calories to 580 calories for a Big Mac and 760 calories for a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese.

So, for example, at McDonald's, a more healthy choice for a school age child might be a:


    * hamburger (280 calories) or cheeseburger (330 calories) or 4 piece (210 calories) or 6 piece (310 calories) McNuggets
    * small (210 calories) or medium french fries (450 calories)
    * 8oz of 1% Lowfat Milk (100 calories) or small (16oz) soda (150 calories)
    * and maybe as an additional treat, a Vanilla Reduced Fat Ice Cream Cone (150 calories)


Understand, that still isn't a very 'healthy' meal, as if you go with the cheeseburger, medium fries, soda and ice cream, that is 1080 calories and 40 grams of fat. For a 7-10 year old, that would be 54% of their daily calorie requirements and 62% of their daily fat requirements, all in one meal.

An older child or teen who ate a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese (760 calories), Super Size fries (610 calories) and 32oz Triple Thick Shake (1140 calories) would likely exceed their daily calorie and fat requirements in that one meal.

Although McDonald's is often used as an example for fast food nutrition, the same principles apply 
at other fast food restaurants.

At Burger King, calories and fat can range from 310 calories and 13g of fat from a simple hamburger to 1070 calories and 70g of fat for an Original Double Whopper with Cheese sandwich. And going from Value (340 calories and 17 g of fat) to King size (600 calories and 30g of fat) french fries will help make your meal less 'healthy'.


Did you know


1.    A recent study showed that children who drink sodas and other sugar-sweetened drinks are more often obese and that this risk increases another 60 percent with each additional beverage consumed.


2.    McDonald's, which operates 30,000 restaurants in 119 countries and serves 46 million customers each day, earned $15.4 billion in revenues in 2002. On opening day in Kuwait City, the line for the McDonald's drive-thru was more than 10 kilometers long.


3.    India's fast-food industry is growing by 40 percent a year and is expected to generate over a billion dollars in sales by 2005. Meanwhile, a quarter of India's population remains under-nourished—a number virtually unchanged over the past decade.


4.    China is now home to 800 KFCs and 100 Pizza Huts.


5.    Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, the world's two largest soft drink companies, are the thirteenth and twentieth largest advertisers in the world; together, they spent $2.4 billion on ads in 2001.


6.    Coca-Cola sells more than 300 drink brands in over 200 countries and employs 60,000 people in Africa alone. Its net revenues reached $19.6 billion in 2002—with more than 70 percent of its income originating outside of the United States.


So there you go! A few rules we hope will help you stay on the healthy side nest time you open the door of your favourite fast food place.