Are Fast Food Restaurants Affecting Obesity Levels in Morocco? Obesity in Morocco: Part FIVE, of a SIX-Part Series
McDonald’s at Marrakesh PlazaThe first McDonald’s here in Marrakesh opened on the Route de Casablanca, in 2000. Prior to that time, there was a Pizza Hut open in Guiles, but it was not heavily patronized, mainly due to high prices.
In 2008, we now have a McDonald’s in the center of town, in Marrakesh Square. It has been there at least four years, and is very popular. It is always packed with rich Moroccan teenagers, Moroccan mothers with kids, and an occasional foreign tourist.
Rich Moroccan teens and young adults (photo by Ann Vine)
Both of these McDonald’s seem to be popular hang-out joints for Moroccan teenagers with money. Plenty of families in Islamic dress take their kids to eat in McDonald’s as well–not just the modern families. The lower and middle classes would never go to McDonald’s because it’s just too expensive. (One meal there is equivalent to two days of an adult woman maid’s salary.)
A third McDonald’s has been opened inside the Marjane shopping center for at least seven years.
This is packed with shoppers, and a few Moroccan parents are eating there with their kids. But most parents are not eating, only drinking, while they let their kids eat something. A lot of foreigners who shop in Marjane patronize this McDonald’s. But it’s generally pretty packed.
Kentucky Fried Chicken just opened in June, far across the intersection from the main square.
Its location is a little harder to get to, and it doesn’t look as fancy inside, so I’m not sure it will do as well as McDonald’s. I’ve only heard a few comments so far. They range from “It’s fantastic,” from Moroccan teenagers, to “It made my stomach hurt, so I didn’t go there again,” from an adult man. I was skeptical of this, and wondered if it was just his own idea that the food made his stomach hurt! (There is a general idea among Moroccan adults that ANY fast food is bad for you.)
So, how are the new fast-food restaurants impacting Moroccan culture, and health?
Rich Moroccan kids and teenagers love these restaurants, as well as a very small subset of adults. Most adults patronizing McDonald’s are having a soft drink while their children eat, play, and socialize, as there are not many places to go in Marrakesh for kids. Kids and teenagers love the food, and a few adults love it. One mother commented to me, “I’d love to go to McDo (rhyming with “toe,” as it’s commonly referred to here) every day!” This was a mother wanting to lose weight, but unsuccessfully.
Only a few Moroccan adults patronize fast-food restaurants (several times a week). The rest of the adults tend to say, “I would not eat that food; I could not eat that food.” They are eaters of Moroccan cuisine (tagines–Moroccan stews with meat, or chicken, and vegetables–with varieties of salads, whole-wheat or white bread, and a piece of fruit for dessert. Moroccans always consume a glass of Coca-Cola (considered to be “good” for your digestion in Morocco) with their meals, and generally some water (never milk).
Lamb Tagine (Stew) with Peas and Artichokes
Lower-class and middle-class mothers are preparing these meals at home, while other middle-class and all upper class mothers have maids preparing the tagines at home. Preparation of lunch takes 2-3 hours, and is consumed as the main meal of the day, about 1:00 P.M.
Fast foods are definitely NOT replacing the healthy cuisine above, for most people. McDonald’s food (or Pizza Hut’s, or Kentucky Fried Chicken’s) is often consumed as a late-afternoon snack or meal, or by upper-class kids who are out-and-about with their chauffeurs and friends.
People who are stressed do eat too much, just as they do anywhere, but stressed people are not eating fast foods (and they are far too expensive for most people to eat regularly). They are eating fast foods out of novelty, or because they like them. People here are NOT eating at fast-food restaurants because they don’t have time or energy to eat or prepare food at home–out of convenience, so they don’t have to cook, as they often are in America.
Some overweight Moroccan children are often eating at fast-food restaurants several times a week, but not for their main meal of the day, or on a regular basis. So, obese children in Morocco like fast-food restaurants, and may continue these habits as adults. But most overweight adults (in fact, all that I know) are NOT eating at fast-food restaurants.
There were no fast-food restaurants until recently. But in my opinion, they are NOT contributing to the problem of obesity in Morocco. Instead, they have enhanced our lifestyle considerably. We want these choices available here too, as they are available in the more developed countries.
Part SIX will deal with the Moroccan tendency toward diabetes, and metabolic syndrome, even at much more moderate weight levels than northern European populations.
Margot
Tags: Kentucky Fried Chicken in Marrakech, KFC in Marrakech, McDonald's in Marrakech
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July 3, 2008 at 10:59 am
I think so yes as they cook anything mixed and then we consume it for cause of obesity among us. we should avoid fast food chains for eating purpose
July 4, 2008 at 4:12 am
Losing weight is hard work there is no easy way…….You must work at it everyday and never give up…Good Luck to anyone that has to work hard like me ……………
July 4, 2008 at 9:59 am
Fast food restaurants, i believe, do not contribute to obesity.
It is people that lack the self control that contribute to obesity.
Eating almost anything too much and too often contributes to obesity.
July 5, 2008 at 4:30 pm
I’d prefer tagines to burgers anyday!