In a bid to influence individuals to avoid the consumption of junk food, concerned

parties, including public health agencies, engage in programs that seek to raise
awareness regarding the risks associated with unhealthy eating. Nonetheless, amid
having awareness about the health risks posed by junk food, 80% of the U.S.
population frequents fast food joints at least once every month (McCarthy, 2013).

To understand the triggers of obesity, scholars have identified the consumption of

junk food as one of the leading factors of the health issue. Popkin, Adair, and Ng
(2012) assert that the consumption of junk foods emerged in the 1970s when people
started increasingly opting for processed foods, sugar-sweetened beverages, and
edible oils. Such dietary behaviors marked a shift from the conventional use of
healthy foods and beverages to junk foods that exposed them to an array of health
concerns, including obesity.

Apart from obesity, other health issues such as hypertension and diabetes started
manifesting at a greater scale during the 1990s, thereby denoting the detrimental
effects of using unhealthy foods (Popkin et al., 2012). Furthermore, Finkelstein et
al. (2012) uncover that the problem of obesity and overweight affects individuals
in various income levels and regions. Thus, low-income earners in regions such as
South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as high-income earners in Europe and
North America, among other regions, report heightening instances of obesity and
overweight as an outcome of poor dietary habits.

Projections show that the prevalence of obesity is on the verge of increasing

significantly, owing to poor dietary habits embraced by individuals in modern
societies. Gunnars (2017) posits that the past 160 years have witnessed a
skyrocketing rise of the total sugar intake, a situation that had led to increased
cases of obesity globally, as shown in Figure 2. People in western countries mainly
consume significant quantities of sugars averaging 500 calories on a daily basis.
The calories come from the intake of junk foods that have exposed consumers to
health risks such as obesity.

The Rising Total Sugar Consumption and Obesity Prevalence Over Time.
Figure 2. The Rising Total Sugar Consumption and Obesity Prevalence Over Time.
Studies that use the linear time trends predictions indicate that obesity will
remain unabated in the next decade, owing to the prevalence of unhealthy eating
habits (Finkelstein et al., 2012). Nonetheless, the authors predict that the
occurrence of severe obesity will reach lower levels than the currently reported
rates if people acquire healthy dietary habits. The integration of nonlinear
regression models into a study reveals that the prevalence of moderate as well as
severe obesity will reach rates of 42% and 11%, respectively, by 2030 (Finkelstein
et al., 2012).