Prompt: More and more people are becoming seriously overweight. Some people say that raising the price of fast foods will solve this problem. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

The issue of obesity is a serious health concern, especially for youngsters, as they are more exposed to a wide variety of ready-made meals. Regarding question whether increasing the cost of such foods will restrict people from buying, I completely disagree because prices do not seem to be the only encouraging factor as we shall see. Ċ To begin with, higher costs of junk food does not necessarily mean that people will not buy it, to satisfy their cravings. This means that people who are habitual will continue this pattern, despite the expensive prices of such foods. For example, fast food chains such as KFC, target children in their advertisement such as happy meals, force parents to fulfil the wishes of their loved ones. A better solution would be to improve the overall quality of such products by limiting the amount of preservatives and no compromise on the harmful ingredients they use. This will not only helpful for people, but also reduce the burden of healthcare facilities. Ċ Furthermore, the other major reason for the excessive consumption of fast food is the hectic schedules of people, as they are not able to spare time to cook for themselves. In such situations, higher prices will only affect their income rather than their usage of such foods. For instance, in Pakistan, working parents often opt for pre-cooked meals, rather than having a maid to cook for them and their children, because this would be a more expensive option than buying junk foods. This can be resolved only by providing awareness of the negative effects of such products, and allow more home-based tools such as rice-makers to ease the process of preparing meals. Ċ In conclusion, it is logical to accept that higher prices will restrict people’s access to fast foods. However, reforming the strategies for cooking at commercial outlets and subsidizing home-based cooking tools would appear to be much more effective to overcome this issue.