Fast Food Calorie Count

Posted on January 22, 2008. Filed under: Health, Uncategorized | Tags: Fast Food, Obesity |

Who doesn’t think this would be a good idea? Fast Food Calorie Count. The article talks about how NYC Board of Health wants to force fast food restaurants to include nutrition information on their menus. I know I would have bought a LOT less fast food (or at least made better choices) when I was younger, if I knew the amount of fat and calories were contained in their foods. I think it is a fantastic idea and it needs to be adopted across the world.

Want to see what McDonald’s has to offer you? View the McDonald’s Nutrition Info on their website. You can not see it listed on the menus at their restaurants (yet), but they have the necessary information on their site. Double quarter pounder w/ Cheese has 740 calories!? Big Mac has 540 calories!? You think teenagers and young children know this as they put this in their mouths almost everyday? Add some large fries to those sandwiches and you are over 1,000 calories for one meal.

Want to see what Chipotle has to offer? A lot of people would. Funny how they don’t include that information at their restaurants or on their website. However, you can estimate what the calorie count is at this fan website .

Why this idea would be good for a LOT of people is best summarized in a quote from that article:

“The more fast food people eat, the more likely they are to become obese,” Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden told the New York Daily News. “Some people may choose to ignore [the calorie information], and that’s totally fine. But other people will use it to choose healthier food.”

One last thing, Did You Know That…

Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death in the U.S.

Approximately 127 million adults in the U.S. are overweight, 60 million are obese (Body Mass Index or BMI > 30) and 9 million are extremely obese (Body Mass Index or BMI > 40).

Currently, an estimated 65.2 percent of U.S. adults, age 20 years and older, and 15 percent of children and adolescentsare overweight and 30.5 percent are obese.

Approximately 62 percent of female Americans are considered overweight .

Approximately 67 percent of male Americans are considered overweight.

An estimated 400,000 deaths per year may be attributable to poor diet and low physical activity.

Over the past three decades, the number of obese individuals has more than doubled.

Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death in the U.S.

2nd leading cause of preventable death and no one feels obesity is a BIG issue? When will America begin to realize this needs to be addressed?

Think about this…

Do you think it is right that the FCC allows TV channels to have fast food companies advertise on their stations during children shows? They do this when they know in their hearts that most of the food from these restaurants are introducing our kids to high calorie foods and possibly the start of their obesity? The parents will call and complain to a TV station if they hear a swear word, but never a complain about all the unhealthy commercials being shown on their kids’ shows??? Interesting.

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