fast facts about fast food in America

Americans love fast food – after all, it has two of our favorite things right there int the name ("fast" and "food").

Perhaps that's why the industry draws more than $208 billion from the wallets and purses (not to mention the little gap between car seats) of Americans each year, according to the finance website CreditDonkey.

In Texas, they love their Whataburgers, out west they demand their Double Doubles, folks in Des Moines love the Butterburger, and east of the Mississippi pretty much every guy prefers Five Guys.

But America's love of fast food comes at a more than a high financial cost; people who eat fast food at least once per week are about 20 percent more likely to die of heart disease than those who don't. Despite that, 1-in-4 Americans still don't believe fast food is unhealthy.

To see how deeply America's love of fast food goes, and how that love affects our beltlines (not to mention the old ticker), check out the slideshow above.