As I walk through the hallway during lunchtime, I turn to my left and I see two people devouring a plate of French fries and I see the famous McDonald’s paper bag laying in the trash can with ketchup stains on it. I look to the right, and I see a student running with a bag of chips and another one behind him yelling "HEY, GIVE ME MY BAG OF CHIPS!" In the back of my head, I am wondering, "What are we having for lunch today?" but as I enter the cafeteria, I see a crowd of students running to the lunch line with smiles on their faces and as they come out I see a whole lot of junk (pizza, fries, cookies). I also see little or no healthy foods on their trays. I am also a victim of junk food consumption but, the more I think about it, the more I start to see the damages it is doing to us.

Junk foods are good occasionally just to spoil yourself but, when they become a daily habit, then they are a big problem. The effects of eating unhealthy may not show up right away physically in the form of becoming obese or not being able to do many activities because of your weight, but they do begin to damage you internally. The ingredients that make junk foods appealing are the same ones that make them health hazards too.

High fat content, barring a few manufacturers, can cause high cholesterol levels. A close look at the content of some favorite junk foods provides some unhealthy details. For example, a Big Mac from McDonalds tastes good, but it has a lot more to it than tasting good. It has 590 calories and accounts for 52% of fat intake an individual needs in one day. Also, junk foods are hazardous to us because the sugar and sodium have their own potentially negative effects on health. High calorie content of sugar can lead to obesity. Cholesterol and salt are known to set off high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease. Excessive salt can even affect functioning of kidneys. While many of these conditions take years to begin showing symptoms, it begins early.

There are many obvious effects of junk food, but junk food can lead to other things we don’t think about, like poor concentration, another result of a junk-food habit. When you have a junk-food meal that is rich in oil, you begin to feel drowsy and fail to concentrate. Over sustained periods of junk-food eating, blood circulation drops due to fat accumulation. According to Medline Plus, which provides health information from the National Library of Medicine, lack of vital oxygen, nutrients and proteins particularly can stale your grey (brain) cells temporarily.

According to the National Institutes of Health, one of the world’s foremost medical research centers, a junk-food diet is a major cause of heart disease. Myocardial infarction (a severe heart failure) is due to plaque formation in arteries, which requires the heart to put in extra effort to pump blood on the downstream. On the upstream, there is a lack of returning blood to the heart. Myocardial infarction causes two damages to the heart. Heart fatigue by the continuous extra effort it requires, and a low oxygen supply.

According to a study conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services titled "School Health Policies and Program Study," 32.7% of elementary schools, 71.3% of middle schools, and 89.4% of high schools had either a vending machine or a school store, canteen, or snack bar where students could purchase foods or beverages including foods that are high in fat, sugar, and sodium. While schools use food sales to supplement income, they need to be more focused on student health, and students need to take care of themselves and avoid the intake of excess junk food-meals.

It is time to shape up because making junk-food meals your first priority every day will come back and haunt you later.