Fries. Nuggets. All day breakfast. These are all appealing aspects of McDonald’s, which is opening up a new location just down the street from the school.

With this, many students will be even more tempted to eat fast food regularly, putting them at risk for weight gain, obesity, Type Two diabetes, or cardiovascular disease.

Is it an issue? Some students don’t think so.

“I don’t think [fast food is] necessarily a bad thing,” said senior Amanda Luckey upon hearing the news. On average, she eats fast food about once a week. Luckey said the main reason she eats at fast food places is for the convenience of it.

Often times students sacrifice a good breakfast for five more minutes in bed. With three fast food restaurants so close to the school, a student could get something to eat without breaking the bank and still make it in time for the first bell.

Senior Marissa Holmes eats fast food about five times a week, and tends to go after school for some nuggets or fries. She too knows of the health risks with eating so much fast food.

“People don’t really care about what’s in the food,” she said. “They care about what it tastes like.” Holmes, like many other students, doesn’t try to balance the unhealthy foods with the healthy.

Vegetarian and senior Dalrionne Davenport shares a similar sentiment as Holmes.

Davenport, who eats fast food about once a week said, “It’s difficult to eat fast food as a vegetarian.” When she does eat out, she has to pick all of the meat off her food, a task she described as annoying. When asked why she continues to eat it, she said, “It’s just a matter of cravings.”

Though eating fast food regularly can be unhealthy, eating it every once in a while as a treat is not so bad. “All things in moderation” said Matthew Owen, the crafts teacher.

He tries to eat food from home as often as he can but also occasionally falls to the convenience that is the drive-thru. He believes students should be able to make an informed decision on what they ingest.

A healthy heart or a happy stomach, the choice all comes down to the student.

As Owen said, “If you want to eat a Big Mac, eat a Big Mac.”