Supersized
fast-food leads to obesity
By Steve Mitchell
UPI Medical Correspondent
Published 6/18/2002 4:58
PM
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WASHINGTON, June 18 (UPI) -- The popular fast-food restaurant
practice of "supersizing" -- increasing portion size for just a few
cents more -- tacks on significantly more calories to meals and
contributes to the U.S. epidemic of obesity, consumer groups
reported Tuesday.
The National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity, a coalition of
more than 200 health organizations, discussed the dangers of
supersized meals at a news briefing, adding that the supersizing
practices also has spread to convenience stores and movie
theaters.
Supersizing "encourages overeating and (is) contributing to
skyrocketing rates of obesity in adults and kids," said Margo
Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in
the Public Interest.
"We are literally eating ourselves into the grave," said Carol
Tucker Forman, director of the Food Policy Institute at the Consumer
Federation of America. She noted that obesity is associated with
increased risks for heart disease, cancer, stroke, high blood
pressure and diabetes.
The NANA report states increasing to a bigger meal size costs
relatively little but results in significantly more calories. For
example, going from a 7-Eleven "Gulp" sized drink to a "Double Gulp"
costs only 42 percent more but tacks on 450 more calories, or 300
percent additional calories.
Switching from a small bag of popcorn in a movie theater to a
medium bag costs only 71 cents extra but adds 500 calories.
The practice of "bundling" or adding on fries and a soft drink to
a fast-food sandwich to make a "value meal" leads to some of the
largest increases in calories, the report states.
A McDonald's "quarter pounder with cheese" large extra value meal
contains 490 more calories than the regular sandwich with small
french fries and small Coca-Cola -- and it costs 8 cents more to buy
the lower calorie meal.
"It costs more to get less," said Melanie Polk, director of
nutrition education at the American Institute for Cancer Research.
"That's wrong. That's backwards, and it's bad for our health."
The National Restaurant Association rejected the consumer groups'
claims. "It's overly simplistic to blame a food or portion size on
obesity when ... it's an overall healthy lifestyle that needs to be
adopted" to keep weight in check, Sheila Cohn, a registered
dietician and nutrition coordinator for the association, told United
Press International.
"Making people feel bad about what they eat is not the way to
promote healthy lifestyles," Cohn added.
Caloric intake per person has not increased over the last few
years, but physical activity has declined during that period, which
is the real culprit behind increasing rates of obesity, she
said.
To battle the effects of supersizing on the waistband, consumers
can "say small, say half and share," Polk suggested. "Always ask for
the smallest size (they) have ... It will be more than ample."
Polk recommended that consumers refuse offers to supersize, and
if they do opt for the larger portions, they should share them with
a friend.
"Until we eat a little less and exercise a little more, we are
not going to curtail this obesity epidemic," she said.
To make consumers more aware of the calories contained in
supersize portions, the consumer groups are urging federal, state
and local legislators to require fast-food restaurants to put
listings of the calorie content of their menu items in plain view,
Wootan said.
Asked if she really believed this would make a difference, Wootan
said most Americans are concerned about their health, but they
"don't realize just how many calories they are getting when they eat
out."
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