Fast food: An issue of class, knowledge

Fast food: An issue of class, knowledge

By Jules Bell

Fast food, multinationals, mass production and marketing: What
is this cocktail's impact on our health and environment? Should
people be wary of the associated dangers of a fast and convenient
lifestyle imported from the West? The Jakarta Post looks into the
issue.

JAKARTA (JP): Today the Kentucky Fried Chickens, Pizza Huts
and the golden arches of McDonalds blend unremarkably into
Jakarta's urban landscape. The speed at which Western culture --
including film, music and nightlife -- swept though Indonesia
during the 1990's, is perhaps no more evident than in the fast
food industry.

Modernization has seen Indonesians take to Western fast food
with a vengeance. For example, the number of McDonalds outlets
now totals 70 across the archipelago, since the first outlet
opened in Jakarta in 1991. While Western derived marketing
practices promote fast food with fervor, franchises continue to
mushroom throughout Indonesia's larger cities.

The regular crowds, lines and 24-hour accessibility of
McDonald's outlet on Jl. Thamrin, Central Jakarta, exemplify
Western fast food's popularity in Indonesia.

"I have a six-year-old son who always begs me to take him to
fast food restaurants," said Arini, his 36-year-old mother. "He
cries if we refuse," adding that as he is a growing child, she
would prefer him not to eat McDonalds food.

So, is Western fast food detrimental to the health of people?
Is it really that bad for you? It depends on which side of the
counter you are standing, who you talk to and consumer awareness.
The fact is, fast food can only damage your health if you can
afford it.

According to Dr. Muhilal, director of the Indonesian
Nutritional Research and Development Center, Indonesia is faced
with a double burden. Socioeconomic class distinctions have
created a nutritional juxtaposition for the country. Less wealthy
people continue to suffer what used to be the primary health
problems: infectious diseases and undernutrition. Iodine
deficiency and anemia are the two leading manifestations of
malnutrition for the poor.

Dr. Muhilal says the middle and upper classes with their
modernized lifestyles, including an increasing tendency to
consume fast food, are more prone to equally dangerous health
problems. These include degenerative diseases such as heart and
circulatory system diseases and obesity.

Prof. Kamanto Sunarto, a sociologist at the University of
Indonesia, describes the fast food phenomena in terms of
globalization and class structure.

"Everything becomes the same," he said, "the same food and
fashion brand names". And the same diseases? "In a sense it is a
form of globalization linked to multinational organizations and
international food chains."

What is it then about fast food that makes it unhealthy, and
how does it compare to traditional cooking?

In the opinion of Prof. Johanna Rumawas from the Southeast
Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) at the
University of Indonesia, and the Department of Nutrition in the
university's School of Medicine, it depends on consumer knowledge
about nutrition.

Healthy fast food is not an oxymoron, says the professor, who
draws a distinction between meals high in fat and salt, such as
fried chicken combined with french fried potatoes, and rice and
salads. She stressed that an educated selection within the bounds
of fast food is both important and possible, and that fast food
is not necessarily always unhealthy.

Nutrition education needs to be given more attention. "The
general population are not aware of what constitutes good
nutrition. Fast food is relatively cheap, the service is fast and
it tastes good," she said.

Fat content

This is an opinion shared by Evodia Iswandi, a nutritionist
and specialist in public health, who promotes moderation. "(Fast
food) is bad if you eat too much. Once or twice a month is all
right," she said. "If you eat it everyday, then this is no good
because of the fat content."

She said chicken nuggets have a 55 percent fat content, or
1,050 calories, almost half the recommended daily intake of fat.
If you couple this with french fries and a coke, a "trendy food"
lunch approaches 2,000 calories, she said. "It is not difficult
to eat well with Indonesian food," suggesting gado-gado (boiled
vegetables and peanut sauce) as an example.

Tuti Sunardi, a nutritionist and health food writer, further
differentiates Western style fast food and traditional Indonesian
cuisine. "If you compare the two, traditional food has an average
of 20 percent fat," she said. "Modern fast food averages 40
percent fat, twice that of traditional food."

Lifestyle diseases are becoming increasingly problematic for
Indonesia, stressed Dr. Muhilal. Citing a study that surveyed
eating habits in 10 large Indonesian cities two years ago, he
said, obesity, a major problem associated with overeating, had
only marginally increased.

"There is a tendency for obesity to be a little higher, but I
don't think it is a big problem yet." The other major lifestyle
health problem is cause for more worry.

"Heart and cardiovascular (circulatory system) disease is now
the number one killer of Indonesians, responsible for 23 percent
of all deaths in Indonesia," he said.

So are hamburgers, pizza and fried chicken responsible for
this? In the 1990s, diseases related to lifestyle choices have
displaced those related to infectious agents as the leading cause
of death in the country. Simultaneously, increasing modernization
has been reflected in lifestyle practices.

It is possible to accuse, but difficult to state, that there
is a definitive link between Western fast food and this emerging
health problem for Indonesia, said Dr. Muhilal. He said stress
and smoking were also relevant contributors to lifestyle diseases
and there was very little data investigating the link between
fast food and ill health.

Prof. Sumila from the Regional Center for Community Nutrition
at the University of Indonesia adds to this holistic perspective.

"With modernization, women are also working. Therefore,
families have more of a tendency to eat outside the home," she
said. The professor said dietary intake overall was changing, and
was reflected in menu patterns, the unconscious consumption of
more fat and a more routine consumption of fast food in the upper
classes.

Local fast food is not necessarily healthier though, said
Prof. Sumila, referring to research in West Sumatra which found a
causative link between the use of high fat coconut oil and
cardiovascular disease.

Despite a consensus of expert opinion, there is an absence of
research addressing the effect of Western fast food on an
individual's health. This in itself is a problem, said Dr.
Muhilal. "In the long-term, we should be afraid of increasing
cardiovascular disease and over-nutrition."

Challenge

McDonalds, however, challenges any links between their food
and lifestyle diseases.

"McDonalds does not cause heart disease or any other diseases,
because our protein source is very pure and our food is fat
free," said president of McDonalds Indonesia, Bambang Rachmadi.

So is Western fast food bad for Indonesians who can afford it?
Eaten in moderation within a balanced diet, together with
education about its nutritional value, perhaps not. At least that
is the theory. In practice, a correlation between Western fast
food consumption and the emergence of lifestyle diseases here is
suspected but is yet to be established. Why is this the case when
evidence from developed countries suggests that poor dietary
habits are indeed one of the causative factors in lifestyle
diseases?

It is therefore timely, considering the country's mooted
economic recovery, that the Ministry of Health recently unveiled
its new paradigm for the future. The central theme is a focus on
prevention of disease and health education, including nutrition.
Is this a positive step in diffusing what could be a potential
health time bomb?