IELTS essay - Scientists say that junk food is harmful to people's health. Some say the way to ask people to eat less fast food is to educate them, while others say education does not work. Discuss both sides and give your own opinion.

It is irrefutable that junk food is harmful to people’s health. It contains a lot of fats and salts which are detrimental to health. Therefore some people say that people should be educated and made aware of its harmful effects. However, others opine that education does not help in making people eat less junk food. In the following paragraphs I intend to discuss both issues and finally give my opinion.

Some opine that educating people about the harmful effects of junk food can help in reducing its use. The fact is that people don’t actually know what goes in the making of fast food. Fast foods are high in calories and low in nutrition. These foods are rich in harmful substances such as fat, salt, and sugar. Preservatives are also added in junk food. All these things can cause heart diseases, cancer, diabetes, and obesity. Obesity is one of the major problems in the world today. It is very important to reduce eating Junk foods for the healthy life. So, if people are warned about their bad effects, they would eat less of it. This can be done with the help of media such as TV which is ubiquitous nowadays.

On the other hand some believe that educating people won’t help because junk food is very cheap, tasty and readily available. After a hectic days work no one is in a mood to spend time in the kitchen and so junk food is very convenient. It is also not very expensive and children love it. What is more, fast food outlets spend a lot to lure people with their ads. What people don’t realize is that the celebs they use in these ads hardly ever eat such food themselves and if they do, then they also spend hours working out in the gym every day.

After considering the convenience of fast foods, I believe that educating people would not help. It would be better if these fast food outlets were educated about making fast food healthier. Strict rules should be laid down against using trans-fatty acids and saturated fats. Whole wheat breads could be used instead of white breads. Use of preservatives should be lessened and juices should be served along with such foods instead of carbonated drinks.

To put it in a nutshell, I pen down saying that, fast food is harmful but still people eat it. Therefore, educating people would not help. Measures should be taken to improve the fast food. After all, all fast food is not bad.