Are Restaurants Your Biggest Enemy?

There was a great article written called "Feeding the Obesity Epidemic." It compares a very powerful organization, the NRA, with another powerful organization, the "other" NRA -- the National Restaurant Association.

Firearms will kill 30,000 Americans in 2008, but obesity will kill 2 1/2 times as many people. And attempts to prevent those deaths are being blocked by the 2nd NRA.

It's a striking comparison. 2/3 of Americans are overweight. Diabetes eats up $1 of every $5 spent on healthcare. A recent study at Harvard showed that obesity may soon surpass tobacco as the #1 cause of cancer deaths.

35% of our weekly caloric intake is consumed in restaurants. But it's not the number of meals we eat out, it's the enormous calorie load in each meal.

For instance, the Aussie Cheese Fries at Outback Steak House come loaded with 2900 calories -- (the recommended daily calorie intake for an adult male is 2200) and that's just an appetizer!

Now, it's not difficult to guess that this choice is unhealthy, but in many cases, we have no way of knowing HOW unhealthy a restaurant "serving" is . . . Restaurants aren't required to tell us, and the NRA is fighting legislation that would require that they do so.

A study in the American Journal of Public Health showed that consumers presented with obviously high calorie restaurant meals tended to underestimate the calorie content by 600 calories. As I have said before, overeating by only 100 calories per day results in an extra 12 lb. per year.

The NRA's defense is really laughable -- they proposed in an affidavit that if people knew that certain foods were high in calories, it might cause them to eat too little, then gorge later, or that they might be drawn to the high calorie foods because they are forbidden.

You could argue that it is our own personal responsibility, and it is. And there's plenty of controversy around this issue. But gee . . . it would be nice to make an informed choice!

Comments

[Elyse]

One way to choose more wisely: get a copy of the book, "Eat This, Not That" by David Zinczenko.
I think one of our main problems is that the majority of us are happily oblivious to the true calorie count in most restaurant items.

[Andy Mason]

Carol,

I'm astounded at the calorie load you described for the starter at Outback Steak House...no wonder they are resisting disclosing caloric content.

I have been on my own weight loss journey since November last year and I've been very successful. Part of my success is because I do not eat out very often any more, and when I do I am usually careful about the choices I make as I'm aware that many of those tempting choices come packed with calories. One restaurant I would like to applaud is Applebee's who provide a weight-watchers section of their menu that lists the caloric content of those meals. Each of the choices from that section of the menu that I have tried have been delicious.

Perhaps this is a compromise model for other restaurants to follow? Rather than listing the scary calories in some of their full-fat offerings they could provide a comprehensive section of their menu for those who are looking for tasty and filling lower-calorie alternatives that list nutritional information like total calories, calories from fat, sodium, sugar content etc.