People are eating out more and more these days. The number of obese people in the U.S. has risen to an astonishing 30% of the population, with around 64% of Americans considered to be overweight. Do you think there is a link? Well, the FDA does, and it thinks that restaurants should lend a hand in the battle of the bulge.
Americans spend about 46% of their food budget on eating out (or getting takeout), with 32% of their calorie intake coming from these foods. As these are some significant numbers — and as obesity puts a person at risk for many dangerous health issues — the FDA decided to fund a forum in order to look into the topic further.
The report, “The Keystone Forum on Away-From-Home Foods: Opportunities for Preventing Weight Gain and Obesity,” is not about pointing fingers; it’s about using all avenues to put a stop to the extremely unhealthy obesity epidemic in the U.S. One of these avenues is the restaurant industry.
The main goal of this project is to provide the “away-from- Home” food industry with guidelines on how it can make some realistic changes in order to help people make better food choices. The FDA wanted to give consumers more assistance with managing their caloric intake, so as to help prevent obesity, while still getting maximum nutritional value out of their meals.
As we all know (but hate to admit), marketing can affect our choices when it comes to buying products and choosing where we go to eat. The report recognizes the power of this medium and suggests that the foodservice industry shift the focus of its advertising to healthier food options.
So, rather than seeing that mouth-watering burger pop up on your TV screen, the forum would rather we see images of fresh, heart-healthy salads. The report also recognizes the need to increase the number of government programs that promote healthy food choices, or to expand upon the existing programs.
The report also takes a hard look at what restaurants and takeout food places are offering on their menus. It suggests that a larger selection of lower-calorie items should be made available. Moreover, meal sizes need to be limited to a realistic and healthy portion (do you really need that many fries?). The report also suggests that there should be more fruits and vegetables included in a meal, and less starches and fatty items, plus smaller portions of meat.
Instead of just offering soda with “combos,” the forum proposes more emphasis on healthier options, such as water or skim milk. The report also thinks that restaurants should improve the ingredients in their food offerings by using less refined starches, added sugar, and saturated and trans fats. It suggests that more education is needed in the foodservice industry as well, focusing on the messages that healthier ingredients do not mean a loss of taste, and that bigger is not better (yet another reason to get rid of the supersize option!).
The forum also feels that not enough nutritional information is being provided to consumers. It suggests that the foodservice industry make calorie and nutritional content more readily available, such as on place mats and menu boards. A lack of information means that there is less opportunity for consumers to make healthy choices. However, this option is not necessarily feasible for smaller businesses, as it costs a lot of money to analyze food items.
Keep in mind that these are recommendations only and not enforceable regulations. So, we may or may not see some of these changes in the near future, especially considering that the foodservice industry is doing so well with its current marketing strategies, menu items, and product information (or lack thereof).
However, you will notice that some companies are already attempting to get on the healthy-eating bandwagon — let’s hope they all jump on the bandwagon soon, for the sake of our waistlines and our health.
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Tags: Heart, obesity
