A Study Says Eating Out Can Lead to Obesity

Do you eat out a lot? Have you noticed that portions at restaurants are getting bigger and bigger? Well, not surprisingly, a study indicates that these factors can increase the chances of obesity.

USA Today: Federal report lays out how restaurants can help take a bite out of obesity

“A new report suggests restaurants should dish food and fight fat at the same time, meaning menus with more fruits and vegetables, smaller portions and better nutritional information. With burgers, fries and pizza the Top 3 eating-out favorites in this country, restaurants are in prime position to help improve people’s diets and combat obesity. At least that’s what is recommended in a government-commissioned report being released Friday. The report, requested and funded by the Food and Drug Administration, lays out ways to help people manage their intake of calories from the growing number of meals prepared away from home, including at the nation’s nearly 900,000 restaurants and other establishments that serve food. The 136-page report prepared by The Keystone Center, an education and public group based in Keystone, Colo., said Americans now consume fully one-third of their daily intake of calories outside the home. And as of 2000, the average American took in 300 more calories a day than was the case 15 years earlier, according to Agriculture Department statistics cited in the report. Today, 64% of Americans are overweight, including the 30% who are obese, according to the report. It pegs the annual medical cost of the problem at nearly $93 billion.”

Further recommendations ask restaurants to consider providing better nutritional information to customers.