Would You Eat Fast Food Everyday… for $3,500?
No, it’s not Morgan Spurlock’s latest movie stunt. But if you feel like you can’t live without getting a daily dose (or several) of fast food meals from McDonald’s, Taco Bell, KFC, Burger King or Pizza Hut, then there is some potentially good news for you coming out of Washington University. Researchers at the St. Louis, MO-based university are looking for individuals who are willing to eat nothing but fast food for three whole months.
In order to qualify for the program—which will pay eligible volunteers $3,500 for their participation—you must agree to eat only fast food from the approved chains every single day for 90 days, and must also gain five percent of your body weight over the course of the study. Participants must already be at least 30 pounds overweight to qualify for the program, and all participants will be assisted in losing weight gained from their participation in the program.
Despite it seeming like a reward for America’s obesity problem, the study intends to better understand why some overweight people are more prone to develop diet-related illnesses, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease, than others.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, currently more than one-third of adult Americans are clinically obese, and that number is expected to reach nearly 42 percent in the next 20 years if dietary habits stay the same. Seventeen percent of American children ages 2-19 are currently obese; the rate of obesity among the nation’s children has nearly tripled since 1980.
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Image: Mike Saechang
