A friend of mine was telling me about two young ladies he stood behind in line at Dairy Queen a few weeks ago. They were young, not more than twenty-five years old, and they were extremely overweight. My friend's jaw dropped as he listened to their order... "Two double-cheese burgers, a large fry, large Coke, and a large Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard please."
That wasn't the total order....that was what each of them ordered!
Let's summarize that meal in nutritional terms and compare it to the recommended daily intake (RDI) of a 25-year old woman.
Total Calories = 4,080 (RDI = 1,800)
Total Fat = 191g (RDI = 60g)
Trans Fat = 20g (RDI = 0g)
Sodium = 4,620mg (RDI =
Carbs = 464g (RDI = 225g)
Sugar = 268g (RDI =
Fiber = 9g (RDI = 25g)
Protein = 138g (RDI = 90g)
Based on a recommended 1,800 calories per day and a dietician-recommended 4-6 meals, an average meal would contain 300-450 calories. These ladies consumed ten times that much....4,080 calories in one meal! This meal also contains over three times the recommended daily intake of fat (with 20g of health-destroying trans fat), double the recommended sodium and over seven times the recommended sugar! Incredibly, with ten meals worth of calories, the meal only provides about one-third of a day's requirement of fiber.
There are those that would laugh and make fun of these ladies. There are those that would criticize them for their poor decisions and judgment. "It's their own fault," they might say. "They've got choices. They could have ordered the Chicken Caesar Salad (at the bottom of the menu in fine print) or eaten a healthy meal at home."
Personally, I feel deep sorrow for these young women. It saddens me that their chances of enjoying a long, healthy life are slim at best. I place the blame squarely on a fast food industry that has targeted these young ladies since they were 3 years old; an industry that did everything it could to get these two ladies addicted to fast food before they had a fighting chance.
Is what's happening to these ladies any different than what happened to millions of people who were duped by big tobacco from the time they were children? Fast food targeted these young ladies just like big tobacco targeted our young people, inundating them with commercials on TV and radio, in magazines, in schools and on billboards. Brilliant marketing? Yes. Ethical? No.
You may say to yourself, "Well, the fast food industry has changed. They have healthy choices on the menu these days." Did fast food start to put healthy foods on the menu out of the goodness of their heart? Not likely. They started to put healthy foods on the menu when they saw the $35 billion settlement against big tobacco.
Why do we care? Have you noticed your health care costs climbing 10% annually? Have you noticed more of your friends and relatives developing chronic illnesses, even fatal illnesses, in the prime of their lives? At least part of the reason, in my opinion, is our nation's addiction to fast food.
We nailed big tobacco to the wall for getting our young people addicted to cigarettes years ago and filling up our hospital beds and morgues. I think "Fast Food" should be next in line to pay the piper. What do you think?
