Introduction

McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of fast food restaurants, selling hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken products, French fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, hash browns and desserts. More recently, it also began offering salads, snack wraps, carrot sticks, corn cups and apple dips.
Subway is an American restaurant franchise that primarily sells submarine sandwiches and salads.
 Subway is one of the fastest growing franchises in the world with 36,663 restaurants in 100 countries and territories as of April 13, 2012. In addition to the submarine sandwich Subway offers, the chain also serves wraps and salad as well as baked goods and pastries including cookies, donuts and muffins.
 As we progress into the fast-paced life of the 21st century, where everything’s all about convenience, the experience of eating fast food is so routine, so ordinary, so commonly seen. These fast food giants mentioned above are “taking over” this fast-evolving world, as more and more people are eating fast food to the extent that it has become an vital part of our society. Most people know that fast food is not the healthiest choice when it comes to the wide variety of choices in the food world, but choose to eat it because of the speed, low prices, convenience and appeal to our taste buds that it offers. We hope to create greater awareness on the adverse effects of this popular culinary choice by using a fictional character in a made up scenario and showing the effects of consuming fast food on a regular basis on the weight of a healthy 14-year old girl who exercises 5 times a week, today.

Our fictional character is called Alice and she is a swimmer who trains 5 times a week. Her normal food intake would maintain her weight at about 45 kg. However, recently, one of these fast food giants, McDonald’s fast food restaurant had opened near her home. After her swimming training, Alice now has a daily routine in which she will consume an upsize meal for lunch, consisting of a main course, fries, and a drink. Before we move on to exploring the effects of consuming fast food on a regular basis on Alice, let us define some terms.

 The term “calories” is usually thought to be something that makes people fat   or gain weight. Hence, to start off, a calorie is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius. The calories in food are what give the energy to fuel our body.

Generally, a large person will require more calories than a small person, an active person will require more calories than a sedentary person.

  Assuming that her height is average for a 14-year-old, we assume that her height is 1.62m, after sufficient research. We assume that she drinks the same type and portion of drink (Coca-Cola) and eats the same type and portion of cookie (chocolate-chip cookies) as part of her subway meal, and that she drinks the same kind and portion of drink (Coke) and eats the the same type and portion of fries as part of her McDonald’s meal. We assume that she only had 3 meals in a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner. We also assume what she eats for lunch on all 5 days. We also assume that she was having sufficient calories from her previous diet. Another of our assumptions would be that she her weight stayed constant throughout before the change in her diet. We also assume that her calorie intake for every meal was equal, as in she had the same amount of calorie for breakfast, lunch and dinner before the change in diet. We also assume that she trains only 40 times in two months.
 Being a picky eater, Alice chooses not to have the same main course within a week. Every week, she alternates among 5 options of a hamburger, cheeseburger, double cheeseburger, Big Mac and a Filet-O-Fish for her main course, along with a large French fries and a coke. The rest of her diet remains the same.
 To calculate the daily calorie requirement for a person, the person’s Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) should be multiplied by an activity factor.

BMR for females can be calculated using the BMR formula, as shown below:

Female: BMR = 10×weight + 6.25×height - 5×age - 161
Hence,
Alice’s BMR= 10 x 45 + 6.25 x 1.62 - 5 x 14 - 161 = 1231.5

Alice’s daily calorie requirement can then be calculated by multiplying her BMR (1231.5) by the appropriate activity factor:

Very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week): Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
Alice comes under the category Very active as she does vigorous exercise 5 times a week and according to our assumption for three hours every time.
Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725 = 1231.5 x 1.725 = 2124.3375 ≈ 2124
Therefore, Alice’s daily calorie requirement is 2124.
According to our assumptions, Alice had the requirement of having the required amount of calories before her change in diet. Also Alice’s calorie intake per meal every day was the same, according to the assumptions. Therefore,
Calorie Requirement per Meal = 2124/3 = 708
We can conclude that this was the amount of calories she had for lunch before the change in her diet.
Calorie Requirement for 2 months = 2124 x 56 = 118944
With the opening of the McDonald’s fast food restaurant near her home, Alice’s diet has changed and she now consumes a hamburger, cheeseburger, double cheeseburger, Big Mac and a Filet-O-Fish for her main course, along with a large French fries and a coke for each day. The rest of her diet remains the same. We will now calculate Alice’s calorie intake for one week after switching to her new diet.
 Assuming on day 1, Alice consumes her normal meals for breakfast and dinner. For lunch, she eats at the McDonald’s fast food restaurant and orders a hamburger, a Coke and a Large Fries
Total Calorie Intake on Day 1 = (708 x 2) + 843 = 2259

Assuming on day 2, Alice consumes her normal meals for breakfast and dinner. For lunch, she eats at the McDonald’s fast food restaurant and orders a cheeseburger, a Coke and a Large Fries.

Total Calorie Intake on Day 2 = (708 x 2) + 892 = 2308

Assuming on day 3, Alice consumes her normal meals for breakfast and dinner. For lunch, she eats at the McDonald’s fast food restaurant and orders a double cheeseburger, a Coke and a Large Fries.

Total Calorie Intake on Day 3 = (708 x 2) + 1027 = 2443

Assuming on day 4, Alice consumes her normal meals for breakfast and dinner. For lunch, she eats at the McDonald’s fast food restaurant and orders a Big Mac, a Coke and a Large Fries.

Total Calorie Intake on Day 4 = (708 x 2) + 1116 = 2532

Assuming on day 5, Alice consumes her normal meals for breakfast and dinner. For lunch, she eats at the McDonald’s fast food restaurant and orders a Filet-O-Fish, a Coke and a Large Fries.

Total Calorie Intake on Day 5 = (708 x 2) + 945 = 2361

Assuming on days 6 and 7, she sticks to her normal diet, she has 708 calories per meal.

Total Calorie Intake on Day 6 and 7 = 708 x 2 x 3 =4248

Hence, in one week,

Total Calorie Intake for Days 1-7 = 2259 + 2308 + 2443 + 2532 + 2361 +4248 = 16151

Hence, in two months,

Total Calorie Intake for two months = 16151 x 8 = 129208

There is an increase in the amount of calories eaten by Alice in two months. The increase is,

Increase in the amount of calories from original diet to current diet for lunch only

=  129208 - 118944 = 10264

We know that the relationship between one’s calorie intake and his/her weight is

3500 calories = 0.45kg

Alice’s weight gain = 10264/3500 x 0.45 kg = 1.319 kg ≈ 1.32 kg

Hence, Cate’s weight after two months after switching to her new diet would be increased to

45 kg + 1.32 kg = 46.32 kg

 The effect mentioned above would carry on and on unless Alice changes her food intake back to her usual food intake, exercise more vigorously or trains more than 5 times a week. This effect is bad for her health, because when the extra calories are converted to fats, the extra fats gained steadily could lead to multiple health problems such as high blood pressure and a higher risk of a heart attack. Before, as she was having a healthy amount of calories and enough exercise and thus, her weight stayed constant throughout at 45 kg. However, with the change of diet, she still has the same amount of exercise but more food, resulting in more calories to burn. But as the extra calories are not burned off, they increase Alice’s weight, until she exercise more than her usual 5 times a week to burn off those extra calories. Thus, we come to a conclusion that Alice will continue to gain weight until she exercise more than usual.

 When Alice consumes a normal instead of a upsize McDonald’s meal, the only difference in her diet would be that she would consume a small French fries meal instead of a large French fries meal. Therefore, the difference in the amount of calories between the McDonalds normal-sized meal and the McDonalds Upsize meal is equal to the difference between the amount of calories between the Small French Fries meal and the Large French Fries meal. Thus,

Difference in calories between the normal-sized meal and the McDonalds Upsize meal

= Difference between calories between the Small French Fries and the Large French Fries

= 441 - 239 = 202 (per meal)

Difference in calories between the normal-sized meal and the McDonalds Upsize meal

= 202 x 5 x 8 = 8080 (in two months)

She gains an extra of 8080 calories by taking the upsize meal instead of the normal meal.

Next, we are going to calculate how many more kilograms she gains.

Extra kg = 8080/3500 x 0.45 kg = 1.038 kg ≈ 1.04 kg

Thus, in conclusion, difference in the effect on Alice’s diet between a standard and an upsize meal over the same duration of two months, is that she will gain 1.04 kg more when she takes the upsize meals compared to the standard meals.

 As we have calculated before, the amount of calories Alice needs for two months is 118944 (all three meals). Now we will find out how many calories she eats when she goes to Subway instead of McDonalds after training.

Assuming on day 1, Alice consumes her normal meals for breakfast and dinner. For lunch, she eats at the Subway’s fast food restaurant and orders a BLT sandwich, a chocolate chip cookie and a coke drink.

Total Calorie Intake on Day 1 = (708 x 2) + 693 = 2109

Assuming on day 2, Alice consumes her normal meals for breakfast and dinner. For lunch, she eats at the Subway’s fast food restaurant and orders a Big Philly Cheese stake sandwich, a chocolate chip cookie and a coke drink.

Total Calorie Intake on Day 2 = (708 x 2) + 873 = 2289

Assuming on day 3, Alice consumes her normal meals for breakfast and dinner. For lunch, she eats at the Subway’s fast food restaurant and orders a Buffalo Chicken sandwich, a chocolate chip cookie and a coke drink.

Total Calorie Intake on Day 3 = (708 x 2) + 793 = 2209

Assuming on day 4, Alice consumes her normal meals for breakfast and dinner. For lunch, she eats at the Subway’s fast food restaurant and orders a Chicken and Bacon Ranch Melt sandwich, a chocolate chip cookie and a coke drink.

Total Calorie Intake on Day 4 = (708 x 2) + 943 = 2359

Assuming on day 5, Alice consumes her normal meals for breakfast and dinner. For lunch, she eats at the Subway’s fast food restaurant and orders a Chicken Parmesan sandwich, a chocolate chip cookie and a coke drink.

Total Calorie Intake on Day 5 = (708 x 2) + 883 = 2299

Assuming on days 6 and 7, she sticks to her normal diet, she has 708 calories per meal.

Total Calorie Intake on Day 6 and 7 = 708 x 2 x 3 =4248

Hence, in one week,
Calorie Intake in one week=2109 +2289 +2209 +2359 +2299 +4248 = 15513

Hence, in two months,

Total Calorie Intake for two months = 15513 x 8 = 124104
Total amount of excess calories = 124104 – 118944 = 5160
The McDonalds meal gives more excess calories, showing that it is unhealthier compared to the Subway meals. However, though the Subway meals are considered a healthier choice when compared to McDonalds, it is still quite unhealthy.