As the year continues, an increasing number of Tahoma students have started eating at fast food places near the high school, which poses a high risk to the teens’ health. Dr. Dale had a comment to make about the effects of fast food on bodies: “The food is fake, they don’t mold or rot like you would think they would.”

Throughout our years at Tahoma, we’ve observed many of our peers heading to McDonald’s or Dairy Queen during Power Hour or at the end of the day to grab a bite to eat. But do these foods really provide enough nutrients to keep our growing bodies healthy?

The amount of nutrients in foods at these places is very low, with a Big Mac containing around 600 calories, which is a fourth of a normal adult’s calorie intake, along with 25 grams of fats.

Eddy Romero, a worker at the McDonald’s in Maple Valley, commented that “more than half of the people that I see are from our school,” adding that “I see some of them everyday or every other day.”

Most nutritionists advise against eating fast food every day due to its effects on increasing insulin resistance as well as causing type 2 diabetes.

With the upcoming fall and winter seasons, many teens are likely to go on “bulks,” a term popularized by TikTok, which means increasing a person’s calorie intake to help build muscle. But what many don’t take into consideration is that a big part of that consists of protein-dense foods. An average Big Mac contains around 25 grams of protein but has 600 calories, while a chicken breast contains just as many grams of protein while having only 122 calories.

The portion sizes play a significant role in the amount of food that teens are consuming due to their high calorie density, which teens don’t tend to be mindful of. This, in turn, can cause teens to start gaining weight. Eddy adds that “a lot of the customers who come here and order a lot of food are usually overweight.”

To add to the issue of gaining weight, Dr. Linda states that “A lot of obesity is going on, and teenagers don’t know how to handle that stuff until they see it.”

Not only is this affecting the Tahoma district but the entire state of Washington. Out of all 50 states, Washington is one of the worst offenders in terms of fast food, with McDonald’s playing a huge role.

The people of Washington need to stand up for the health of our youth and help prevent the growing obesity crisis happening in the U.S. However, fast food corporations have such a significant role in the economy that it will not be an easy task, but it’s a necessary step that needs to be taken.

Things that teens can do to help with this are eating out less by either bringing a school lunch, getting food from the school’s cafeteria, as well as learning the basics of keeping track of their calorie intake.