Research Freewrite

Over the past few decades the rate of obese children living in the United States has significantly increased.  This increase includes many different causes, but one that should be made note of is the advertisement of the fast food industry.  The fast food industry uses different advertising techniques to appeal to the younger audience through the use of kid's meals, toys, and mascots.  For example, McDonald's uses Ronald McDonald, while Wendy's uses Wendy, who appeals to many due to her cute freckles and kind looks.  The fact that fast food restaurants are easily accessible and even more convenient aids in childhood obesity.  Parents who work late hours, or are running errands stop by a fast food restaurants to grab a quick cheap meal, not knowing the terrible effects this meal will have on their child's body.  The actual nutritional value of the food served at fast food restaurants is detrimental to a child's body and in years after the effects of excessive eating out will begin to surface.  Even though the fast food industry is attempting to create better options to chose from, children will more than likely choose the unhealthy burgers and greasy french fries over sliced apples and yogurt.  Through this research paper I will discuss the different aspects of the fast food industry and its appeal to families and especially the younger generation.  I will examine advertisement campaigns along with the reasons why fast food is so accessible.
To research this topic I will examine government documents on childhood obesity and its increasing rate.  I also plan on using the internet to access Goggle Scholar and find scholarly articles on childhood obesity and how fast food restaurants play a vital role in its increase throughout the years.  I will compare the rate of obesity in the present with the rate of obesity in children in the past few decades.  To discover other important articles and journals I will use the Clemson Library Online Catalog which will lead me to the articles that I need.
The most difficult part of this assignment will be pulling in all aspects that I want to cover to form a cohesive paper and hypothesis.  There is a lot of information that can be covered when talking about childhood obesity and the fast food industry, therefore I will need to thoroughly research my topic in order to create a paper that is not too broad.  This paper will also require a lot of research on my part, therefore I will need to quickly begin on my research.

Timeline for Research Paper:
February 19-25: Begin research
February 26: Decide on a creative and well informed hypothesis and topic for the paper
March 4: Finish outline
March 5-9: Construct a very rough draft; make sure to have pictures to include in the research paper
March 16: Rough draft due to Mrs. Lamos
March 17-24: Spring Break
March 25-29: Make major revisions to paper; ones that are needed
March 30: Final draft due to Mrs. Lamos