A poster at Camp Pendleton’s 21-Area Health Promotion Center describes the effects of junk food that many Marines and sailors consume.
Junk food is a pejorative term, dating back at least to the 1950s, describing food that is high in calories from sugar or fat, with little dietary fiber, protein, vitamins or minerals. It can also refer to high protein food like meat prepared with saturated fat. The term HFSS foods (high in fat, salt and sugar) is used synonymously. Fast food and fast food restaurants are often equated with junk food, although fast foods cannot be categorically described as junk food.
Concerns about the negative health effects resulting from a junk food-heavy diet, especially obesity, have resulted in public health awareness campaigns, and restrictions on advertising and sale in several countries.
Origin of the term
The term junk food dates back at least to the early 1950s, although its coinage has been credited to Michael F. Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, in 1972. In 1952, the phrase appeared in a headline in the Lima, Ohio, News, "'Junk Foods' Cause Serious Malnutrition", over a reprint of a 1948 article from the Ogden, Utah, Standard-Examiner,
originally titled, "Dr. Brady’s Health Column: More Junk Than Food". In
the article, Dr. Brady writes, "What Mrs. H calls 'junk' I call cheat
food. That is anything made principally of (1) white flour and or (2) refined white sugar or syrup. For example, white bread, crackers, cake, candy, ice cream soda, chocolate malted, sundaes, sweetened carbonated beverages." The term cheat food can be traced back in newspaper mentions to at least 1916.
Definitions
Whether foods such as pizza are considered junk food depends upon how they are made.
In Andrew F. Smith's Encyclopedia of Junk Food and Fast Food, junk food is defined as "those commercial products, including candy, bakery goods, ice cream, salty snacks and soft drinks, which have little or no nutritional value
but do have plenty of calories, salt, and fats. While not all fast
foods are junk foods, most are. Fast foods are ready-to-eat foods served
promptly after ordering. Some fast foods are high in calories and low
in nutritional value, while other fast foods, such as salads, may be low
in calories and high in nutritional value."
Junk food provides empty calories, supplying little or none of the protein, vitamins, or minerals required for a nutritious diet. Many foods, such as hamburgers, pizza, and tacos, can be considered either healthy or junk food, depending on their ingredients and preparation methods. The more highly processed items usually fall under the junk food category, including breakfast cereals that are mostly sugar or high fructose corn syrup and white flour or milled corn.
The United Kingdom's Advertising Standards Authority, the self-regulatory agency for the UK ad industry, uses nutrient profiling
to define junk food. Foods are scored for "A" nutrients (energy,
saturated fat, total sugar and sodium) and "C" nutrients (fruit,
vegetables and nut content, fiber and protein). The difference between A
and C scores determines whether a food or beverage is categorized as
HFSS (high in fat, salt and sugar; a term synonymous with junk food).
In Panic Nation: Unpicking the Myths We're Told About Food and Health,
the junk food label is described as nutritionally meaningless: food is
food, and if there is zero nutritional value, then it isn't a food.
Co-editor Vincent Marks explains, "To label a food as 'junk' is just
another way of saying, 'I disapprove of it.' There are bad diets - that
is, bad mixtures and quantities of food - but there are no 'bad foods'
except those that have become bad through contamination or
deterioration."
History
According to an article in the New York Times,
"Let Us Now Praise the Great Men of Junk Food", "The history of junk
food is a largely American tale: It has been around for hundreds of
years, in many parts of the world, but no one has done a better job
inventing so many varieties of it, branding it, mass-producing it,
making people rich off it and, of course, eating it." Cracker Jack,
the candy-coated popcorn-and-peanuts confection, is credited as the
first popular name brand junk food; it was created in Chicago,
registered in 1896, and became the best-selling candy in the world 20
years later.
Popularity and appeal
Junk
food in its various forms is extremely popular, and an integral part of
modern popular culture. In the US, annual fast food sales are in the
area of $160 billion, compared to supermarket sales of $620 billion (a figure which also includes junk food in the form of convenience foods, snack foods, and candy). In 1976, the US Top 10 pop song, "Junk Food Junkie", described a junk food addict who pretends to follow a healthy diet by day, while at night gorges on Hostess Twinkies and Fritos corn chips, McDonald's and KFC. Thirty-six years later, Time
placed the Twinkie at #1 in an article titled, "Top 10 Iconic Junk
Foods": "Not only...a mainstay on our supermarket shelves and in our
bellies, they've been a staple in our popular culture and, above all, in
our hearts. Often criticized for its lack of any nutritional value
whatsoever, the Twinkie has managed to persevere as a cultural and
gastronomical icon."
America also celebrates an annual National Junk Food Day on July
21. Origins are unclear; it is one of around 175 US food and drink days,
most created by "people who want to sell more food", at times aided by
elected officials at the request of a trade association or commodity
group. "In honor of the day," Time
in 2014 published, "5 Crazy Junk Food Combinations". Headlines from
other national and local media coverage include: "Celebrate National
Junk Food Day With… Beer-Flavored Oreos?" (MTV); "National Junk Food Day: Pick your favorite unhealthy treats in this poll" (Baltimore); "Celebrities' favorite junk food" (Los Angeles); "A Nutritionist's Guide to National Junk Food Day" with "Rules for Splurging" (Huffington Post); and "It's National Junk Food Day: Got snacks?" (Kansas City).
As for junk food's appeal, there is no definitive scientific
answer, both physiological and psychological factors are cited. Food
manufacturers spend billions of dollars on research and development
to create flavor profiles that trigger the human affinity for sugar,
salt, and fat. Consumption results in pleasurable, likely addictive,
effects in the brain. At the same time, massive marketing efforts are
deployed, creating powerful brand loyalties that studies have shown will
trump taste.
It is well-established that the poor eat more junk food overall than the more affluent, but the reasons for this are not clear.
Few studies have focused on variations in food perception according to
socio-economic status (SES); some studies that have differentiated based
on SES suggest that the economically challenged don't perceive healthy
food much differently than any other segment of the population.
Recent research into scarcity, combining behavioral science and
economics, suggests that, faced with extreme economic uncertainty, where
even the next meal may not be a sure thing, judgment is impaired and
the drive is to the instant gratification of junk food, rather than to
making the necessary investment in the longer-term benefits of a
healthier diet.
Health effects
When
junk food is consumed very often, the excess fat, simple carbohydrates,
and processed sugar found in junk food contributes to an increased risk
of obesity, cardiovascular disease, and many other chronic health conditions.
A case study on consumption of fast foods in Ghana suggested a direct
correlation between consumption of junk food and obesity rates. The
report asserts that obesity resulted in related complex health concerns
such upsurge of heart attack rates. Studies reveal that as early as the age of 30, arteries could begin clogging and lay the groundwork for future heart attacks.
Consumers also tend to eat too much in one sitting, and those who have
satisfied their appetite with junk food are less likely to eat healthy
foods like fruit or vegetables.
Testing on rats has indicated negative effects of junk food that may manifest likewise in people. A Scripps Research Institute study in 2008 suggested that junk food consumption alters brain activity in a manner similar to addictive drugs like cocaine and heroin.
After many weeks with unlimited access to junk food, the pleasure
centers of rat brains became desensitized, requiring more food for
pleasure; after the junk food was taken away and replaced with a healthy diet, the rats starved for two weeks instead of eating nutritious fare. A 2007 study in the British Journal of Nutrition
found that female rats who eat junk food during pregnancy increased the
likelihood of unhealthy eating habits in their offspring.
Other research has been done on the impact of sugary foods on
emotional health in humans, and has suggested that consumption of junk
food can negatively impact energy levels and emotional well-being.
In a study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition,
the frequency of consumption of 57 foods/drinks of 4000 children at the
age of four and a half were collected by maternal report. At age seven,
the 4000 children were given the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire
(SDQ), with five scales: hyperactivity, conduct problems, peer
problems, emotional symptoms and pro-social behavior. A one standard
deviation increase in junk food was then linked to excessive
hyperactivity in 33% of the subjects, leading to the conclusion that
children consuming excess junk food at the age of seven are more likely
to be in the top third of the hyperactivity scale. There was no
significant correlation between junk food and the other scales.
Anti-junk food measures
A
number of countries have adopted, or are considering, various forms of
legislated action to curb junk food consumption. In 2014, United Nations
Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Anand Grover, released his
report, "Unhealthy foods, non-communicable diseases and the right to
health", and called for governments to "take measures, such as
developing food and nutrition guidelines for healthy diets, regulating
marketing and advertising of junk food, adopting consumer-friendly
labeling of food products, and establishing accountability mechanisms for violations of the right to health."
An early, high-profile and controversial attempt to identify and
curb junk food in the American diet was undertaken by the McGovern
Committee (United States Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, chaired by Senator George McGovern)
between 1968 and 1977. Initially formed to investigate malnutrition and
hunger in the US, the committee's scope progressively expanded to
include environmental conditions that affected eating habits, such as urban decay,
then focused on the diet and nutritional habits of the American public.
The committee took issue with the use of salt, sugar and fat in
processed foods, noted problems with overeating and the high percentage
of ads for junk food on TV, and stated that bad eating habits could be
as deadly as smoking. The findings were heavily criticized and rebutted
from many directions, including the food industry, the American Medical Association, and within the committee itself. In 1977, the committee issued public guidelines under the title, Dietary Goals for the United States, which became the predecessor to Dietary Guidelines for Americans, published every five years beginning in 1980 by the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Taxation
In an attempt to reduce junk food consumption through price control, forms of Pigovian taxation have been implemented. Targeting saturated fat consumption, Denmark
introduced the world's first fat-food tax in October, 2011, by imposing
a surcharge on all foods, including those made from natural
ingredients, that contain more than 2.3 percent saturated fat, an
unpopular measure that lasted a little over a year. Hungary has imposed taxes on foods and beverages high in added sugar, fat, and salt. Norway taxes refined sugar, and Mexico has various excises on unhealthy food. On April 1, 2015, the first fat tax in the US, the Navajo Nation's Healthy Diné Nation Act of 2014, mandating a 2% junk food tax, came into effect, covering the 27,000 sq mi (70,000 km2) of Navajo reservation; the Act targeted problems with obesity and diabetes among the Navajo population.
Restriction on advertising to children
Some governments have considered taxes and limits on advertising or displaying junk food for sale.
Junk food that is targeted at children is a contentious issue. In "The Impact of Advertising on Childhood obesity",
the American Psychological Association reports: "Research has found
strong associations between increases in advertising for non-nutritious
foods and rates of childhood obesity." The World Health Organization
recommends that governments take action to limit children's exposure to
food marketing, stating, "Many advertisements promote foods high in
fats, sugar and salt, consumption of which should be limited as part of a
healthy diet. ... Food advertising and other forms of marketing have
been shown to influence children’s food preferences, purchasing
behaviour and overall dietary behaviour. Marketing has also been
associated with an increased risk of overweight and obesity in children.
The habits children develop early in life may encourage them to adopt
unhealthy dietary practices which persist into adulthood, increasing the
likelihood of overweight, obesity and associated health problems such
as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases."
In the UK, efforts to increasingly limit or eliminate advertising
of foods high in sugar, salt or fat at any time when children may be
viewing are ongoing.
The UK government has been criticized for failing to do enough to stop
advertising and promotion of junk food aimed at children. A UK parliamentary select committee
recommended that cartoon characters advertising unhealthy food to
children should be banned, supermarkets should have to remove unhealthy
sweets and snacks from ends of isles and checkout areas, local
authorities should be able to limit the number of fast food outlets in
their area, brands associated with unhealthy foods should be banned from
sponsoring sports clubs, youth leagues and tournaments, and social
media like Facebook should cut down junk food advertising to children—all are currently just recommendations.
In Australia, a Wollongong University
study in 2015 showed that junk food sponsors were mentioned over 1,000
times in a single Australian cricket match broadcast, which included
ads, and branding worn on players' uniforms and on the scoreboard and
pitch. A coalition of Australian obesity, cancer and diabetes
organizations called on Cricket Australia,
the sport's governing body, to "phase out sponsorships with unhealthy
brands", emphasizing that cricket is a "healthy, family-oriented sport"
with children in the audience.
