Fast Food: Worth Your Money?

Fast food is quick and easy in our busy lives but eating healthy is crucial to staying healthy—and can save you some cash.

When you cook at home instead of going out for fast food, you control everything that goes into your meals. You don’t have to worry about how much salt or sugar the cook added. You already know.

Also, home-cooked meals are less greasy than fast food ones. The extra grease in the fast food is bad for your heart and can lead to slow killers like obesity and heart disease.

You’ll feel better right away if you don’t eat fast food. Once I ate fast-food tacos right before a big soccer game. It was a big mistake. I got sick during the game and had to sit it out. That sure wasn’t worth it. If I had eaten a healthy meal, I would have been able to play the game.

Fast food isn’t cheap – Americans spent $168 billion on fast food in 2011. That’s also the estimated annual cost of the obesity epidemic!

Is it worth it? The satisfaction of a burger only lasts for so long, but the money you spent on it never comes back.

Think of all the things you can do if you skip that Big Mac!

You could:

• Go to the movies.
• Buy a new video game.
• Save money for something expensive.
• Go shopping with your friends.

Don’t believe that fast food costs more than home-cooked? A meal for a family of four at McDonald’s is about $28. A roasted chicken with veggies, salad, and milk only cost about $14. The McDonald’s costs twice as much!

It’s OK to eat fast food on occasion, but don’t make it a regular habit. If you’re looking for something to do with your friends, try making a healthy snack instead of going out to eat. WebMD has some great ideas for some quick, delicious afterschool snacks that are easy and enjoyable!

One Saturday my friends and I stayed in and made one giant, healthy banana pancake! It was fun, delicious, and we got some good laughs out of it.