The previous post on Fast Food Nation and obesity provoked such a discussion that I decided to expand that into this post as well.

A lot of the conversation so far has focused on fast food's role in the rise in obesity rates.

Well, here are the points made by groups on either side of the debate. (The PDFs I pulled this info from are attached.)

The anti-fast food side from the Center for Science in Public Interest:

• Increases in Americans’ caloric intake over the past two decades are due in part to increases in the frequency of eating out. Studies have found a positive association between eating out and higher caloric intakes and higher body weights. Children eat almost twice as many calories when they eat a meal at a restaurant (770 calories) as at home (420 calories).
• Restaurant appetizers can use up half a day's calories before people even get to their meal. Buffalo wings with blue cheese dressing (1,010 calories) and stuffed potato skins with sour cream (1,260 calories) each provide about a half a day’s calories. No one would mistake cheese fries with ranch dressing for a health food, but few would guess that a typical serving uses up more than a whole day’s worth of calories (3,010 calories).
• Portion sizes at restaurants are often large. Pricing can make larger serving sizes more appealing, and studies show that people tend to eat greater quantities of food when they are served more.
• One study found that women who eat out more often (more than five times a week) consume 288 more calories each day than women who eat out less often. (Despite eating more calories, the women did not consume more of beneficial nutrients such as calcium or fiber.) Fast-food meals also are linked to eating more calories, more saturated fat, fewer fruits and vegetables, and less milk.

The other side from the National Restaurant Association:

• All foods can be a part of a healthy diet. The key is balance and moderation, complemented by physical activity. Government studies clearly prove that food cannot be, and is not, the sole culprit of the increasing rate of obesity among some Americans.
• People, particularly young people, are leading more and more sedentary lifestyles. The average U.S. child spends 15,000 to 18,000 hours watching TV by age 17. This represents 38 percent more time spent sitting in front of TV than in school (12,000 hours), according to a study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, along with experts at the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
• Recent research shows that virtually all Americans (95 percent) feel they are qualified to make their own dietary choices, and more than two out of three (68 percent) are tired of the “food police” telling them what to eat and hearing about “good” and “bad” foods.
• While restaurants continue to grow in popularity, the average American consumes 76 percent of meals at home.
• More than three out of four adults (78 percent) agree that there are menu items available at table-service restaurants for those who are watching calories or fat consumption, and more than half (56 percent) say restaurants make it easy for diners to choose a portion size they want.

What side do you agree with more? How big of a role does fast food play?

— Emily Hagedorn, health reporter
395-7510
ehagedorn@bakersfield.com