It's a feeling many fast food customers are familiar with - the excited anticipation of the double hamburger and fries about to come your way - only to be replaced by feelings of guilt and dissatisfaction as soon as you've finished.
And now it's official, Americans who frequent the most popular fast-food restaurants are less happy with their health than the average citizen, according to a new survey conducted by consumer-focused information site BIGinsight.
They asked almost 9,000 consumers to rate their happiness on a scale of one to five. Customers of four of the eight largest fast-food restaurants reported a higher rate of being either totally unhappy or somewhat unhappy with their health than the general population.
Fast food: Burger King has the most male customers, were the fourth unhappiest and had the lowest household income in the top four
Not so happy: McDonalds customers were the most unhappiest and most unhealthiest and also exercised the least
More than one in five of the general population are unhappy with their health.
The same diners also reported other unhealthy habits like not exercising and not watching their calorific or fat intake.
McDonald's customers, were the most unhappy of all fast-food restaurants and they also reported the lowest rate of exercising regularly.
As well as McDonald's, Taco Bell, Wendy's, and Burger King were in the top four.
Arby's, Chick-fil-A and Subway had some of the healthiest and happiest customers.
Subway customers were the most likely to exercise regularly and watch their calories.
Consumer Insights Director Pamela Goodfellow told 24/7 Wall St: 'The difference between these consumer groups lies in what they do beyond the drive-thru: exercising, counting their calories, focusing on fat intake and watching their health in general.'
Happy meal: Customers who ate at Wendy's exercised the most and had the highest average household income
Health-Conscious: Taco Bell - whose customers are the second most unhappy with their health - have started introducing new healthier option in their menu
McDonald's had the highest percentage of regular female customers with 56 per cent. Burger King's regulars are predominantly male with 58.6 per cent.
Almost a quarter of McDonald's customers said they were unhappy or very unhappy with their health and 30 percent said they did not lead healthy lifestyles - compared with 20 per cent nationwide.
According to the report, 22.1 percent of Wendy’s regular customers are either unhappy or very unhappy with their health. About 40 per cent exercise regularly.The average household income of Wendy's users is $60,468, the second-highest of the eight major fast-food chains.
Burger King had the lowest average annual household income among fast-food chains, at $52,958.
All top fast-food restaurants have started offering healthier alternatives.
1. McDONALD'S
•Unhappy/totally unhappy customers: 24%
•Exercise regularly: 34.8%
•Watching calorie intake: 34.1%
•Watching fat intake: 33.2%
•Watching carbohydrate intake: 21.7%
•Exercise regularly: 34.8%
•Watching calorie intake: 34.1%
•Watching fat intake: 33.2%
•Watching carbohydrate intake: 21.7%
2. TACO BELL
•Unhappy/totally unhappy customers:22.7%
•Exercise regularly: 40.3%
•Watching calorie intake: 33.9%
•Watching fat intake: 31.0%
•Watching carbohydrate intake: 19.0%
3. WENDY'S
•Unhappy/totally unhappy customers: 22.1%
•Exercise regularly: 40.2%
•Watching calorie intake: 37.2%
•Watching fat intake: 38.1%
•Watching carbohydrate intake: 25.4%
4. BURGER KING
•Unhappy/totally unhappy customers: 21.5%
•Exercise regularly: 36.0%
•Watching calorie intake: 26.6%
•Watching fat intake: 32.4%
•Watching carbohydrate intake: 19.7%
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2120659/McDonalds-tops-list-fast-food-restaurants-unhealthiest-unhappiest-customers.html#ixzz1qHT9EmW1
