Action: Letter - Zhenyu

Zhenyu Zhong
451 West 20th Avenue
San Mateo, CA 94403
May 4, 2010




Senator Barbara Boxer
United States Senate
1700 Montgomery Street, Suite 240
San Francisco, CA 94111

Dear Senator Boxer:

My name is Zhenyu Zhong, a senior at the Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo. I would like to ask for some sort of action to make the healthier choices more apparent in the fast food industry, through methods such as placing the healthier choices earlier in the menu, or making them having the larger pictures as opposed to the hamburgers and unhealthy choices. I am currently working on a social justice issue which is where we choose a certain justice issue, and research it, identifying it and then figuring out what kind of action can be taken. My topic is the effects of fast food and its health implications, and in particular the marketing of fast food to children to draw them into the fast food culture.

This is a problem because the fast food industry has very effective marketing strategies in its advertising towards children, through product lines such as the Happy Meal and its toys, and play places to children. By providing these things, the fast food industry is able to capture the attention of children and hold them onto their culture, thus leading them into a life of fast food consumption. This is very profitable because many parents will not deny what their children want, but this also leads to health problems later in life if measures like exercise and other healthy eating habits are not taken. A recent statistic says that one third of children are overweight, which is unacceptable and will only progress to be worse later in life.

Thank you for your attention to this problem of the health problems that can arise from this kind of marketing and the nature of fast food. It would benefit everyone greatly if there were action taken against the increasing amount of obesity and health problems linked to unhealthy foods and lifestyles.

Sincerely,



Zhenyu Zhong