Fast food and vending machines

Fast food and vending machines in schools also contribute to childhood obesity. For many children, fast food is a weekly or even daily part of their diets. Particularly disturbing is the quantity of sugar children consume today.
According to the United States Department  of Agriculture, in the early 1800s, the  average person  consumed  approximately 12 pounds  of sugar annually. By the 1970s, the annual consumption of sugar jumped to 137 pounds, a figure that has not changed much over the years despite the introduction of many artificial sweet- eners. The source of much of this sugar is in processed foods and sweetened drinks.Processed foods are foods made with processed white sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, and grains such as white flour, in which the plant fiber—and most of the nutrition—has been removed. High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a sweetener created from corn syrup. Most “convenience” foods are processed. The danger with processed foods is that without fiber  to  slow the  absorption  of  food,  the  glucose (sugar) from the broken-down food floods the bloodstream, causing the body to produce insulin to handle this excess sugar. The insulin captures the sugar, which may leave the person feeling