Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.comLaws requiring U.S. restaurant chains to list calorie counts have not stopped them from offering unhealthy meals that pack in calories, fat and salt, a group that encourages healthy food said.
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If America truly wants to fight obsesity, specifically childhood obsesity, it needs to start in the schools. School lunches are just as much at fault for providing food that is extremely unhealthy for our children. As a parent I am concerned. I know I will be able to provide my child with a healthy packed lunch everyday, but what about the rest of children who are on reduced or free lunch? This is something that should not be happening especially if we want our children to grow into healthy, happy, strong adults.
I agree completely. When did it become standard practice to give school children the option of drinking flavored, sugary milk with their lunches? That certailny was not an option when I was in school. The cafeteria ladies wouldn't allow us to buy chocolate milk. These are CHILDREN!!! They aren't old enough to be given the option of a sweet, flavored milk drink vs. whilte milk. Any kid in his right mind will select the flavored milk. Where are the responsible adults when it comes to planning school lunches?
We focus too much of our efforts on total calorie count, fat & sodium yet completely ignore the carbohydrates. The real culprit of childhood obesity is sugar - plain and simple. Since all carbohydrates are converted into glucose, we would be better off cutting back all the foods that are high in sugar/ carbohydrates rather than watching the amount of fat and salt that they eat. Yes they are bad, but let's not take our eye off the ball.
We also shouldn't have to have a governmental agency telling us this. Or maybe we should since Madison Avenue has done such a marvelous job of selling us high carb foods as healthy.
Read the box people before you open it and stuff it in your face. If it has more than 4 grams of carbohydrates per serving - IT IS GOING TO MAKE YOU FAT!
Blame the schools, blame the restaurants. Yet no one is looking in the mirror and realizing they're fat because they ate themselves fat!
School lunches should be healthy, yes, but you can't blame them for fat kids, those kids were fat before they hit kindergarten and it's because their parents have horrible eating habits and pass those down on the children. Blame the parents for having fat kids. My son is 6 years old, if given the choice he would chose regular milk over a flavored milk. When we go to a buffet I let him choose and he picks strawberries and grapes for dessert over cake, pies, and ice cream. We're not the healthiest eating family, but we're not obese and we know how and when to make a healthy choice, it's called moderation, people.
Schools are a great place to start but we have to tackle the restaurants, too. When they offer these foods that are sometimes "misrepresented" as healthy (such as salads and vegetables), diners are left to wonder why their pants keep getting tighter. Yes, it is laziness on the diners part but does that mean that we should ignore it? I don't think so.
When we order a salad out, we should feel somewhat safe that the food we are eating is better than (say) ordering a big fat steak or a juicy burger. Lots of restaurants fail to even carry fat-free, sugar-free options. This is ridiculous. I hear all the time that they just don't taste good--wrong! So many improvements to flavor have been made. When I have a salad my dressing is not the main part of my meal, I choose sugar-free and fat-free. Even fat-free "mayo' is very tasty. It's light and good! Those you turn their noses up at the good stuff, well, you're just denying yourself a new taste adventure and treat. Pahleze....you haven't even tried it, have you?
Give it a try. However, many grocery stores still fail to have nutritious choices. You see reduced fat or reduced sugar and that is suppose to make one feel better. It's still too much of both. Sometimes they are their but it is quite an escapade to locate them!
I am also very sick of hearing that chocolate is a diet food that is really, really good for you! Bull-oney! There is sugar-free toppings to go on you sugar-free, fat-free yogurt or ice cream; there's Whole grain pasta (not mixed blends) that taste terrific and whole wheat flour makes a mean dumpling in a kettle of chicken stew made with "Healthy Request" cream of chicken soup, lots and lots of vegetables Normandy and some chicken. So many ways to experiment and win with your favorites.
We all need to experiment to get the right kind of food to fuel our bodies. Choose the right snacks like popcorn and fruit. Then, when you've accomplished a main menu; reward yourself with something horribly decadent! Never say never to anything. If you're smart about your main courses, you can afford to treat youself too--just not everyday.
Leaning up will reduce so many diseases - even cancer - and you will feel proud to live in your skin!
This is where "health-care" reform truly has to begin.
and your point is? when are you people going to realize that calorie and fat counts mean almost nothing? it's all about your metabolism. "The U.S. Institute of Medicine says the average American needs about 2,000 calories a day, 1,500 mg of salt and no more than 20 grams of saturated fat." okay, i did that. almost died. I take in around 1500 calories of solid food, around 20,000 liquid calories, around 1000 mg of salt, and around 30 to 50 gm of sat fat every day, and lose around 10 pounds a week. obviously, my intake would make someone with a slow metabolism roll over dead within days. anyone who thinks you can set a guideline for a diverse group of people has ZERO understanding of nutrition or the human body. learn to listen to and watch your own body, and figure out what works for you.
I'm not a doctor or anything, but if you are taking in 20,000 calories of anything (including liquids) a day, and still losing weight, you have a medical problem and should probably see a doctor immediately. It is not possible for a healthy individual to take in that many calories and not gain weight since every 3500 calories equal one pound of weight. Which would mean, that unless you are running a marathon every single day, you should be putting on up to 6 pounds a day. (Or you could just be exaggerating and don't know anything about calories or weight loss. If so, maybe you shouldn't preach to others?)
saw quite a few doctors- my system metabolizes liquids really quickly, but food slowly. there are a bunch of really technical and complicated explanations, but simply put, the USDA guidelines are really more like averages. some people only need around 500 calories a day, and some need vast multiples of that. my wife gains a ton of weight at 2000 to 2500 calories a day, but at that rate, i cannot even get out of bed. I am very active, don't drink, and am 41 years old. my point was in no way to tell someone to drink a ton of energy drinks to load up on sugar calories, but my system loves it, and my doctors not only know, but agree, for now. (there are worries about diabetes, of course, but i check my blood sugar constantly.) I just have an odd body metabolism. and so do a lot of other people. I suppose the USDA's numbers are a good place to start, but know your own body first and foremost.
Not that guy, the other guy
I agree with you 100% its hard to believe anyone can take 20,000 calories a day and not gain weight unless there is something wrong with them.
Sikchimp
i can tell you from experience that i believe 99% of the time metabolism is an excuse. "no matter what i do i cant loose weight i have dieted etc" I hear this all the time but when i tell people to make a food diary and be honest about what they eat it ends up being way more then 2000 calories a day. i am in no way saying some people don't have metabolism issues my wife must eat 3000 calories a day and has a hard time keeping her weight from dropping.
If you eat a total of over 20K calories a day then you must literally spend almost all your time eating. I was very muscular in high school and played football and other sports. To gain muscle mass and not get overly fat I ate about 5000-5500 calories a day. I didn't eat any processed food and let me tell you, that to eat even that much, which is 1/4 of what you say you are eating took alot of work. I ate 6-8 times a day, pretty much every 2 hours. If you are eating as much as you say, you must literally start eating as soon as you get up and not stop until bedtime, and then get up in the middle of the night to eat some more. You must also spend at least 4 hours day crapping. Even if you are eating weightgain shakes, you'd have to drink like 10 a day. As someone who eaten large amounts of calories in a structered and non-gluttonous manner, my BS radar went off big time reading your purported daily intakes.
matt, you didn't read carefully. i only eat about 1200 calories a day, 2 small meals. i drink ten to 20 times that. maybe if you would learn to read for context, you would be able to see the forest for the trees.....
sikchimp,
You're absolutely full of it. Either you are flat out lying, grossly miscalculating your numbers or just have no idea what you are talking about. Considering that sugary drinks (both sodas and or fruit juice) are about 200 calories for 16 ozs, that would mean you are consuming 1600 ozs of liquid a day. Or 12.5 gallons! That's 100 cans of soda a day. You would literally be shotgunning liquid all day long. And you're body would not be able to process that amount of liquid. It just cannot hold that much. You would literally be drowning the cells of your body. Google it. It's true. The average human kidneys can process about 4 gallons of water a day. Now I know you think you're some kind of outlier and I agree that not everyone is "average", but unless you belong to some kind of mutant super-hero team, I'm calling BS.
Calories and fat mean nothing? Of course, you really don't believe that, do you? Just the silliest thing I've heard in a long, long time. Metabolism is fueled by the "nutrition" we put in our bodies. Load yourself with garbage and you'll look like a dump. Yes, some people have a higher metabolic rate than others; fortunately, I fall into that category but I NEVER assume that it will continue forever. Medical problems can adversely impact your normal metabolism and over time your metabolism evolves--sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse and sometimes it yo-yos.
At least bring some realism into the conversation. For some individuals, you could be selling them down the river. Just because you may have "good genes" does not make it right for you to assume that all others are just predisposed to being over weight. Everyone needs help sometime, unless of course, someone happens to be God.
I love this article...the "Center for Science in the Public Interest" is BAFFLED that restaurants STILL SERVE FATTENING FOOD. You'd think, with no one interested in buying that food, that these restaurants would be going out of business trying to sell this stuff.
Except, people are interested in buying it. That's what they don't get. A law saying you have to publish the calories and fat on a menu doesn't change the fact that people want food that is fattening. It tastes better, it hits home with a lot of people, and they are willing to buy this stuff. And they should have the freedom to purchase what they want, and firms should be able to sell anything they wish to sell.
Here's the problem:
1) we spend 13 of the first 18 years of our lives in public school, where we eat government food, which is beyond bad for you. You're hooked on pizza fat and chocolate milk by the time you're in your teens. Then, you carry that lesson with you into adulthood. So if anyone wants to take the blame for this, start with the schools and the govt.
2) we keep saying we want "healthy" people yet we continue to make it easy and inexpensive to be fat. OSHA and ADA make accomodations for fat people, and the health care system in America doesn'tmake it any more expensive to be fat. If you want people to lose weight, make it more expensive to be overweight.
KSA
I think the issue is not the food its the quality of the food. Most places use cheap ingredients to keep there cost low. Trans fat is a great example. Its cheaper to use hydrogenated oils instead of healthier oils so that's what the restaurantsuse. Its cheaper to add MSG and other additives then to use kosher and sea salts Plus they want use to be addicted to the food and that's exactly what the bad ingredients do..
Agree 100% i dont even want to get into this because the topic makes me angry.
This is a great point and i agree with you 100% Bad food is cheap and the system is setup like this on purpose. The bigger the people the more they eat. Reminds me of the guy that was 500lbs and was ordering family meals for his lunch. and drank it with a 2ltr bottle of coke. Yes he drank the whole 2 liter bottle with his meal and yes he ate the whole meal just for lunch. The companies want it to be cheap and for it to cause obesity. Its called good for business. And the pharmaceutical companies love it because there med productions have never been this high.
Its a win win for both those industries. They eat and are are on there way to death while they pay big pharm to try to keep them alive.
Yes, I too will want to go out to a restaurant for a nice fatty meal. I have no problem with eating one at my own peril. At least I will understand the broader picture and I will have an opportunity to analyze just how many meals I will have to skip to make up the difference or how many more miles I will have to hike to burn them, etcetera.
I still want the bad stuff at the restaurants; I just want to be better informed about what I put into my body. I believe that I have a right to know!
Let people eat what the want to eat, it's one of the things that makes us free...
And for people saying it should start in the schools. Parents can pack the same things in their kids lunches. But how about you health conscience folk pack your own kids lunch with the crap you want them to eat.
The previous posters are correct in many of their statements. The thought of ordering 2,500 calories and 85 grams of saturated fat (Cheesecake Factory's Pasta Carbonara with Chicken) nauseates me, but most people are not eating this on a daily basis. Even people who watch what they eat will overindulge on special occasions, which might include dining at the Cheesecake Factory. I welcome the idea of having calories and nutritional content listed on menus and will certainly use those as guidelines when ordering a meal. Nevertheless, there will still be occasions when I'll splurge.
too bad we can't go back to walking to school....I walked to school....back and forth..to school, home for lunch, back to school and finally hone again..., then changed my clothes and played outside until my Mom called me to come in for dinner.....This was while I was from K-6th grade....I walked proximately a mile each way.....(ran the distance for lunch, otherwise I was late).....no fast food...it wasn't invented yet...and I am now 70, in great health....still take NO meds...and am still walking.....and running....There is something to be said of "the good ole days". And this was in NYC.....in the 40's. and the 50's
More kids actually walk to school today than they did 10 or 15 years ago. Due to budget cuts, even our littlest have to face sometimes tragic consequences of not offering transportation. I'm all for exercise, but our tiny tots deserve better.
My son is 15 and he's a healthier eater than my husband and I are! He learned in health class that caffinee is bad for you, so he stopped drinking sodas. Completely. All he drinks now is water and decaf tea that I make for myself with a little Splenda. He won't touch the sugary/syrupy sodas now at all. He also hates waiting in line at lunch in the cafeteria. They have more students than they have room and by the time he gets a tray he has to eat it so fast it makes his stomach hurt. So he started taking his lunch several years ago. He prefers 100% whole wheat bread, peanut butter with a banana on it, water and red seedless grapes. He has taken this for two years now and I keep asking if he wants a change and he never does. The only occasional switch he might make is take raisin bread instead of wheat on his sandwich or I'll add raisins and diced apple to his peanut butter.
He will even eat a salad...with NO DRESSING. I can't even force myself to do that.
He made these changes all on his own. He heard things were bad for him, so he stopped eating or drinking them. How many kids just take it upon themselves to do this? Maybe all kids should have his health class or something because whatever the teacher said or showed them certainly changed his habits for the best.
Thank God for the great job done by our food producers in America. America has the best agricultural ability of any country in the world. We have the best system of food protection and testing of anyone. That is because America has been a democratic nation that allows for free enterprise and gives the gold ring to those who can do the best. The rest of the world is full of countries who envy us for our ability and hate us for what we do right and not for what we do wrong. We are now being swamped by illegal aliens from a country who has a history many times older than America. What have they done to improve their lives and country? We survived A terrible World War and in 1945, we actually gave back the enemy of Japan and Germany their countries on a silver platter and they hate us today for it. So it goes with the rest of the world. A bunch of little jealous entities who do not represent the best for their people.
Not sure if your facts are correct. I have yet to hear that our food is better than that of Europe. It maybe but I don't think that this can just be assumed. We are no longer the best in the World at much of anything. Our longevity is lower, our health care is poorer, our people are fatter, our education is tragically and seriously lacking....No we are not better.
Increase the taxes (have them go directly to the Dept of Health) on restaurants that have ridiculously unhealthy foods on their menus. The taxes on those specific meals increases and the cost gets passed onto the customer. Kind of like a "future heart attack tax."
Tax restaurants based on how healthy their menu items are? Idiotic idea!!! Make it mandatory to publish calorie and nutritional content for every item on the menu. Let people make their own decisions about what to eat. We already pay enough in tax to the federal government for controlling our lives. Exactly where do you think that restaurant tax is going to go, anyway? More than likely it will be used for another bail out for a big corporation, possibly the very companies that produce the over processed, high calorie foods in the first place.
HAHA!!!!
"have them go directly to the Dept of Health"
Do you REALLY mean that? You REALLY think it's a good idea to tax people and, hey, since it's going to go to fund the DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, it MUST be a good idea??? lol. Why not dig a hole in your yard, throw that money in the hole, set it on fire, and then bury the ashes? at least then, the money won't be used to control you or take away yet another freedom.
oh - one other question....please define, in legal terms that will apply to everyone, everywhere, what you mean by "ridiculously unhealthy foods".....then list what you've had to eat in the past 4 days.
Unreal. You people wanna solve this? Same solution as every other problem in this country: REMOVE GOVERNMENT FROM THE PICTURE.
If you go to a place called "The Cheesecake Factory," what are you expecting? Putting calorie counts on menus is a great idea, but that place"outs" itself, right in the name. Don't go there if you aren't looking for fatty, sugary, heavy food.
Just like everything else, people do not want to take responsibility for their own actions. "I'm fat, it is The Cheesecake Factory's fault." PUH-LEASE!!!!! Education and self responsibility!!!!!
Skichimp, you say you don't drink alcohol, and yet you are consuming 20,000 liquid calories a day? Wow... with there being about 120 calories in your standard can of soda, my calculations indicate you're drinking around 166 cans of soda PER DAY. Thirsty much?
Even if you're drinking whole milk, thats 142 cups per day. Moooooooo!
I think you are full of it. And I don't mean "full of liquid."