# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Guiding Principles of the U.S. Government | Overview & Examples - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn about the guiding principles of the U.S. government. Understand what principles guide different types of government and the elements of such…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In today's CBS HealthWatch, Eric Schlosser explains why Americans are obsessed with fast food, and tells us more about his book Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal.

Interview with Eric Schlosser

It seems that we all eat fast food. At least one quarter of American adults eat fast food everyday. And one out of every eight adults has worked at some time during his or her lives. I think it's important that people know what they are eating and especially to know what their children are eating. After reading the book, people can decide if they want to continue eating fast food or not. I use to eat hamburgers before I wrote the book, but now I don't, but I still love French fries.

It's easy, it's filling, and it's convenient and inexpensive. Compared to other foods it's something that working people and ordinary people can go out and enjoy. McDonalds is the most popular fast food chain. The all-American meal is hamburger, fries and a coke or a shake. McDonald's revolutionized fast food. They introduced a way to eat food without knives, forks or plates. Most fast foods can be eaten while steering the wheel of a car and the restaurants are usually drive through. The design of a fast food restaurant is very well thought out. The seats in fast food restaurants are comfortable but not too comfortable and the colors are bright primary colors, which are designed to make you sit but eventually get up and leave. They don't want you to linger to long.

Fast food meals have come a long way from hamburgers. The new "wrap" concept is also considered fast food and is the newest concept in the fast food business. The chicken nugget changed the way Americans ate chicken. The overwhelming majority of chicken sold is as chunks and processed meat as opposed to whole birds. In the fast food, chicken has twice as much fat as hamburgers because they are fried. But continue to gain popularity with the public.

Most fast food is fried. Fried food tastes great, and people don't seem to care about the fat aspect. Only a few fast food companies such as Kentucky Fried Chicken has changed its name (to KFC,) in order to be more responsible in the way the company is presented to the public. I don't think people's eating habits have become healthier. Right now, in the fast food industry the trend is to add bacon to their meals. Only "Subway" is working to promote a more healthy way of eating.

The food looks like food that you would make in your kitchen, but it actually has become a manufactured commodity. French fries at all the fast food chains use to be made by potatoes peeled in the back room and cut into strips. Today they are made in large factories, frozen and processed. Some of the ingredients (oils and fatsare highly processed and very fatty.

The size of the meal you order makes a huge difference. Fast food portions are enormous. The fast food chains have been making larger sized items at really no cost to the company.

Fast food chains spend a large amount of marketing to get the attention of children. People form their eating habits as children so they try to nurture clients as youngsters. It's very important that the fast food companies make sure that their fast food meals for children are healthier. Parents think that chicken meals are healthier than burgers, but they are not since they are fried.

Hamburgers are now made in gigantic factories. There was a time when hamburgers were made from beef from one cow. Fast food chains use to buy their meat from local suppliers in a local region. So fewer cattle were use to get the meat. The fast food chain had such a demand for hamburger meat that tasted the same they helped create factories to make ground beef. It's all very scientific. Today a typical fast food hamburger has dozens or hundreds of strips of beef from different cattle, in different regions blended together. So, if you have one sick cow in the batch, then the risk of getting sick is greater.

Just about all the food in a fast food industry is processed, so much of the flavor is destroyed. So flavor has to be added. For example chicken McNuggets contain different additives including beef extract, the French fries contain animal products and they won't say which animal, and the buns and condiments also have artificial additives added to them.

The real cost of eating the food isn't reflected in the price on the menu. This food tastes good is the salt, fat and sugars added to it. So when you look at the rise in the obesity rate of people and the rise in the success of the fast food chains they parallel each other. About 300,000 people die each year from being obese or overweight, this is second only to smoking. Fast food isn't the only reason people are gaining weight, but it contributes to it.

Parents and these companies should be more responsible when it comes to consuming and marketing fast food to children.

Fast food is heavy on fat, salt and sugar, and reduced nutrient. Fifteen percent of American children are overweight and the number is growing. Fast food is quick and easy and working parents resort to it and it's no fuss and you get a toy.

When your kid is three or four, you shouldn't feed them fast food. When they get older, they will hang out at fast food placs. They don't need to eat an entire value meal. A value meal doesn't save you money. Try to incorporate a salad and vegetables into the meal. Consume smaller portions, no combos, choose the one you want the most (not a burger, fries and a coke).

Fast Food Facts From 'Fast Food Nation'

©MMII CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Americans Are Obsessed with Fast Food: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In today's CBS HealthWatch, Eric Schlosser explains why Americans are obsessed with fast food, and tells us more about his book Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Interview with Eric Schlosser It seems that we all eat fast food. At least one quarter of American adults eat fast food everyday.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
United States Economy: Population, GDP, Unemployment, Inflation, Spending

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Find the United States economic freedom report in the Index of Economic Freedom. The report includes the US population, GDP, unemployment, inflation, government spending and more.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images

For better or for worse, American culture - from TV and movies to politics - has spread to some of the most far-flung corners of the globe.

That means that if you're an American traveling abroad, you're going to be confronted with a lot of stereotypes about the United States pretty much anywhere you go. I heard them everywhere I traveled, whether in Paris, Mumbai, Tierra del Fuego, or rural Malaysia.

Some of these stereotypes are way off-base: Not all Americans drink and party around the clock, for example, despite what people in other countries may have heard.

Here are some of the most common stereotypes about Americans I've heard around the world:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
After traveling to 24 countries, I found people all around the world have the same 5 mistaken ideas about Americans

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
For better or for worse, American culture - from TV and movies to politics - has spread to some of the most far-flung corners of the globe. That means that if you're an American traveling abroad, you're going to be confronted with a lot of stereotypes about the United States pretty much anywhere you go.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
THE NEWlawyers - Infographic by Vanessa Silva