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[rh]

America is getting more and more full of low- or no-income, undereducated people, and that's McDonald's (and other junk food makers') biggest demographic. <snip> Of course there are exceptions, but statistically, that's the way it is.

from
http://www.asfsa.org/newsroom/sfsnews/fastfoodpeds.asp

"February 17, 2004 - Every day almost one out of every three children aged 4 to 19 eat fast food, contributing to a weight gain of six pounds per child per year, according to a recent study published in Pediatrics, January 2004.

The study, which involved 6,212 children, pointed to an increased risk of obesity as a primary issue of concern for children consuming fast food on a daily basis. The study also concluded that fast food consumption among children has an adverse effect on the nutritional dietary factors linked to obesity.
<snip>

Demographic Similarities
There were few demographic differences in the sample of children—boys and girls from all areas of the nation and different income levels and racial backgrounds were represented—indicating fast food consumption to be an alarming issue for all youth in the U.S. However, older children, boys and children from upper-level income households showed higher amounts of fast food intake."

i found the full text of the journal article here:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/ ... _112645547

[JessieK]

The study was biased.

I eat at McDonald's about twice a year. The food is fattening and unhealthy, and it tases great. The commercials, though, make me less, not more, likely to go there.

Yeah, middle class white chicks can behave badly, too (I sure have). But that doesn't undo some very real truths about what's more common.

[TelegramSam]

The solution, of course, is to throw away your television or, at least, unhook the cable/satellite/rabbit-ears.

Simple, really. And it's not like there's anything worth watching anymore most of the time.

[rh]

The study was biased.

From Pediatrics, Jan 2004:

"Of the 6212 children in the study, 51% were males and 49% were females (Table 1). Racial/ethnic composition was 66% whites, 16% non-Hispanic blacks, 14% Hispanics, and 5% other. On a typical day, 1720 children (30.3% of the total) ate fast food. Fast-food consumption was prevalent among all age groups, both genders, all household income levels, all racial/ ethnic groups, all degrees of urbanization, and all regions of the country. Multiple logistic regression analyses controlling for socioeconomic and demographic variables (Table 2) indicated that increased fast-food consumption was independently associated (P < .05) with male gender, older age, higher household incomes, non-Hispanic black race/ethnicity, and residency in the South."

So show me an unbiased one, preferably peer-reviewed, that supports your contention.

[JessieK]

All those were people who agreed to participate in a study. I don't suppose they went into ghettos looking for participants.

I don't believe much of what "studies" come up with. Researchers have a certain hypothesis and they conduct studies in such a way as to demonstrate what they already believed. I studied it extensively in college. It's the reason I didn't go to grad school for psychology. I was not interested in conducting research.

I have my opinions/beliefs and you have yours. I am not political, but I will be a democrat for the rest of my life. I am an atheist. I love my family. I am not interested in arguing this. If you want to live in a fairytale world where socio-economic class has no bearing on behavior, go right ahead. If I had paid much attention to what I actually believe about the state of the world, I would not have been able to convince myself to procreate. I avoid the news and enjoy my own little fairytale, but I do have opinions and beliefs, and you won't change them.

[rh]

I have my opinions/beliefs and you have yours. I am not political, but I will be a democrat for the rest of my life. I am an atheist. I love my family. I am not interested in arguing this. If you want to live in a fairytale world where socio-economic class has no bearing on behavior, go right ahead. If I had paid much attention to what I actually believe about the state of the world, I would not have been able to convince myself to procreate. I avoid the news and enjoy my own little fairytale, but I do have opinions and beliefs, and you won't change them.

i expressed no opinions. you know nothing about me, my beliefs or my world. you mentioned statistics backing up your opinion, i found no such statistics. i found statistics which actually refute your opinion. if you want to express an opinion, go right ahead, but don't invoke some kind of research backing you up if you can't cite it.

[emmline]

If you want to live in a fairytale world where socio-economic class has no bearing on behavior, go right ahead.

Socio-economic class undoubtedly affects behavior.
Lots of rich people still eat crap and are apparently increasing their consumption.

[JessieK]

Call the corporate office of McDonald's and ask them who their primary demographic is. Or go into any McDonald's and check for yourself.

[emmline]

I guess it depends on where you live.
(disclaimer: I occasionally go in for a coke.)

What I see locally are:
1. average suburban moms buying the kids a Happy meal, and letting them run off steam in the playplace.
2. blue collar guys working at any number of jobs--housepainters, construction, landscape, whatever, having lunch.
3. Teens with disposable income.

I'm not seeing the pennyless, though I know they're around because we've got the homeless guys who seem to trade street corners on some sort of agreed-to schedule. Where I see the people who seem the most destitute is in the dollar store, and in the most discounted grocery, not in McD's.

again, perhaps that's just my area.

[dubhlinn]

I guess it depends on where you live.
(disclaimer: I occasionally go in for a coke.)

What I see locally are:
1. average suburban moms buying the kids a Happy meal, and letting them run off steam in the playplace.
2. blue collar guys working at any number of jobs--housepainters, construction, landscape, whatever, having lunch.
3. Teens with disposable income.

I'm not seeing the pennyless, though I know they're around because we've got the homeless guys who seem to trade street corners on some sort of agreed-to schedule. Where I see the people who seem the most destitute is in the dollar store, and in the most discounted grocery, not in McD's.

again, perhaps that's just my area.

Hi Emm,
Things are very much the same in England and Dublin as far as McD's are concerned.
I have been in these places all over Europe - a quick snack on holiday I hasten to add-and I would suggest that this shows the true demographic of McD's worldwide.

Slan,
D.

[DCrom]

Hi Emm,
Things are very much the same in England and Dublin as far as McD's are concerned.
I have been in these places all over Europe - a quick snack on holiday I hasten to add-and I would suggest that this shows the true demographic of McD's worldwide.

Slan,
D.

Worldwide, indeed.

My wife's from Hong Kong, and we go back fairly regularly to visit family. Most of my wife's nieces and nephews really liked McDonalds (as in, really, really, liked McDonalds) until their late teens or early 20s. Outgrowing it seems to coincide with either adulthood or being able to afford better; I'm not quite certain which.

My own kids are fast food snobs - they want In N Out Burger (California based chain), not McDonalds.

[mvhplank]

What I see locally are:
1. average suburban moms buying the kids a Happy meal, and letting them run off steam in the playplace.

That's where my sister fits. I was traveling with her and my niece and nephew a couple of years ago from the Atlanta area to visit our other sister in north Florida. The kids were then about 4 and 6 and there was no way they'd be still and quiet for the whole 8-hour ride.

My sister had made the trip before, and knew every McDonalds and Hardees equipped with a playground between the two ends of the trip. They could run off steam between bites, and that was a great relief to the adults in the car. They're active kids, into gymnastics, soccer, and baseball, and haven't put on any weight they shouldn't have. My sister, bless her, makes sure they eat well and they have very wide tastes for little kids. My nephew used to take cottage cheese as part of his lunch until some kids made fun of it.

McDonalds does make a decent unsweetened ice tea and salads are available, so it is actually possible to eat sensibly if you steel your resolve and aren't tempted by the fries.

M

[chas]

Basically, eating an Atkins-style diet, fresh fish, or any fresh fruit and vegetables, is much more expensive than eating at fast-food restaurants. One person interviewed said the typical Atkins diet was costed out at $25/day/person, while more modest budgets for food were likely to be $4/person/day--still much less than a non-Atkins fresh-foods diet. Buying foods that give you more calories for your dollar becomes something of a survival mechanism.

I'm not sure where these numbers come from -- ONE meal at McDonald's costs $4, at least around here; it would cost, I suspect about $10 a day to have 2-3 meals there. I don't dispute the numbers for the Atkins diet, but I don't think it's typical, certainly not of what I pay for food.

Today, for example:

Breakfast: 2 slices of homemade banana bread (really hard to cost out, but a generous overestimate would have it at the cost of a banana). Say, $0.25
a tbsp or two of natural peanut butter -- say an ounce at $3/lb -- 0.20
a pint of iced tea from mix -- 0.05

breakfast: $0.50

I don't normally eat lunch, but say I did. When I do, it's something like:
bologna sandwich -- 0.30 worth of bread (1/8 loaf at 2.50), 0.25 worth of bologna (1/8 package at 2.00), maybe a nickel worth of mustard
a peach -- 0.50; banana, 0.25

lunch: $1.35

Snack: about an ounce or so of peanuts. maybe 0.15

For supper tonight we're having bean tostadas. Maybe 2 ounces (dry) worth of black beans, 0.06 (1/8 lb at 0.70/lb); a fraction of an onion, pepper, bouillon cube, and spices -- say, 0.24
3 tostada shells (1/4 box at 2.00/box) 0.50
a little lettuce, tomato, a couple of tbsp of yogurt, homemade hot sauce -- say another 0.50

Supper: $1.30

So I'll have eaten about $2 worth of food today. At work I have a couple of glasses of iced tea and a couple of herb tea, say another 50 cents. If I'd had lunch it would be a whopping scant 4 bucks. There are days when I'll eat a filet or salmon, but I seldom eat $10 worth of food in a day. Unless we go out.

It's not expensive to eat well and get a healthy diet, unless you're buying prepared food, in which case most of the time it's not healthy, and you might's well be going out.

[vomitbunny]

That's not a proper diet! Tha's gonna kill ya!
Breakfast. Dark beer that looks like coffee. Drop a raw egg in it. Beer nuts.

Lunch. Leftover St. Paddy's beer, green, the color of salad. Red Ale, the color of tommatoes. Brown ale, the color of bacon. Drop in another raw egg. Like a chef's salad. I call it a chef's beer.

Snack. Beer sandwich. That's one can of wheet beer for the bottom, a can of dark beer for the meat, and another can of wheat beer for the top, all in a quart jar. Pour and drink carefully.

Supper. Dark rum or Whiskey, the color of a grilled steak. More green and red beer for salad. Vodka, made from potatoes. Followed by stout, the color of chocolate cake.

Uh, by diet, you did mean gain weight, right? And stay really drunk?
Is this the stay drunk and gain weight diet everyone is talking about. They don't have that at McDonnalds. At least not in the US. I hear they do Europe. You'd think they'd have it down in the south, wouldn't ya.

All joking aside, I sympathize. I was overweight a good portion of my life, except for a couple of brief spells around my college years.
At 29, I lost it and kept it off pretty much. While not exactly skinny like I was in my early 30's, I stay in the "normal" range on all the charts I've found now. (I'm 41 now). Thank god they hadn't invented Adkins back then. I had to go low fat, excersize, and watch calories.

[DCrom]

vomitbunny, I think I'm beginning to understand how you acquired your nickname . . .