Most Americans happy with their life; but not their health
Studies have shown that most people who live in the United States are happy with their home life, as well as with their friends and family. Unfortunately however, the happiness figures are not so good when it comes to people’s health. Around 20 percent of Americans have said that they are unhappy with the state of their physical health.
A survey, that has been put together by BIGinsight, a consumer information group, has shown that people who visit certain fast food restaurants tend to be even less happy with the state of the health than those who don’t. Recent examination of the study has been made which has looked into which fast food chains cause their customers to be the least happy.
It is not shocking to find out from the study that those who visit fast food restaurants regularly also have other unhealthy habits. The chances are that these extra habits are also leading them to be unhappy with the state of the health. Interestingly, McDonald’s is the fast food chain with the most customers who are unhappy with the state of the health. It also has the customers who do the least amount of regular exercise.
All of the restaurants which were shown to have the most unhappy customers, were also shown to have the fewest customers watching the amount of calories they consumed. This sort of behaviour does not bode well for health, especially when combined with the regular consumption of fast food.
The survey also showed that not all people who dined in fast food restaurants were unhealthy though. Subway customers were shown to have above-average levels of happiness with regard to their physical health. A director of a consumer insights group is Pamela Goodfellow who has stated about the study, “The difference between the happy customers and the unhappy ones is what they do away from the restaurant, not what the actual restaurant itself does. It is all about whether they exercise regularly and count calories.”
Interestingly, an average of 30 percent of people who eat at fast food restaurants don’t take part in healthy habits such as watching fat and calorie intake. This compares to a 20 percent average across the country. It is clear that those who eat in fast food restaurants are significantly less likely to take part in healthy activities.
In recent years, fast food restaurants have come under a great deal of criticism for not providing healthy enough meals. They have launched marketing campaigns about these issues and taken several steps to improve their image in regard to healthy food. In the United States McDonald’s has started offering apple slices on its menu as well as reducing the size of its portion of fries.
The survey also revealed some interesting results about the demographic of various fast food restaurants. For example nearly 60 percent of the people who go to Burger King in the US are male. The chain also sees the customers with the lowest average household income. The company have also made efforts to change their image in regard to healthy food over the last few years but they still retain some of the most unhealthy food in the fast food industry on their menu. For example, one Triple Whopper at Burger King, without drinks and fries contains over 1100 calories.
While many restaurants have actually introduced items to their menu which have lower calories, which are advertised as healthier options. Taco Bell has a rather different approach. They have a range of salads available, but rather than being healthy, the salads contain more calories than the restaurants regular meals.
