The Americans Super-size Problem

By Pinyo, on August 27, 2007

On our vacation this past weekend, my wife and I ate out a lot. This was probably the most expensive part of our trip. Being from Thailand, eating out is an entirely different experience. Over there, portions are much smaller and less expensive. Whereas here in the U.S., portions are usually huge and more expensive. Personally, I prefers the Thai’s way better because it is cheaper, I do not over eat, and I can try a variety of dishes at a time.

I understand that serving larger portions is beneficial for restaurants. The cost per dish as a percentage of total revenue is less, thus maximizing profit. Also, the revenue per patron is higher thus maximizing total revenue. But this is a huge problem, not just for Americans, but for everyone. Here are the issues:

Obesity

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, obesity problem is at its all time high. I know food portion is not the only cause, but it is a contributor. The map below shows percent of obese (BMI > 30) in U.S. adults in 2006.

Image from the U.S. Census Bureau

Medical Problems and Health Care Costs

Obesity causes medical problems and escalates health care costs for everyone. According to The Wall Street Journal:

For obese people, spending on hospital and outpatient care is 36% higher and medication costs are 77% higher than for people in a normal weight range, according to the study, which appears in Health Affairs, a health policy journal published in Bethesda, Md.

Here is another article that links obesity to medical problems and increased health care costs: “Swollen Waistlines, Swollen Costs.”

Wasteful

The Thais are taught to finish off every dish they eat to the last grain of rice. Children are taught about the hardship that Thai farmers faced to produce rice and vegetables. It is a sin to throw away food. With the U.S. restaurant industry, throwing away food is very common. With huge portions, there are three likely scenarios:

1. Patrons finish the meal, but over eat
2. Patrons throw away left overs
3. Patrons take left overs home

Unfortunately, I think #1 and #2 outweigh #3 by a large margin. Even if they take left overs home, there are additional packaging involved; thus guaranteeing more trash.

Depletion of Resources

Some of the things we eat are not readily replenished by nature. By serving these oversize portions and being wasteful, we are depleting resources and causing irreparable harm – i.e., extinction of some species.

If you do a Google search for “eaten to extinction,” you may be surprised by the results.

Environmental Impact

Here are a few environmental problems that larger food portions creates:

• Takes more energy to cook, thus depleting fuel and causing air pollution
• Results in more packaging, thus more trash
• Requires more productive farmland which results in greater use of fertilizers and pesticides that are harmful to the environment
• Requires more farmland which results in deforestation
• Over-hunting and overfishing threaten biodiversity and nature’s delicate balance; and can lead to extinction

What do you think about oversize portions in the U.S.?

Carnivals:

• This article was featured in the Health and Fitness Forum  Volume V hosted by Health Sundae. For more information please visit the Health and Fitness Forum.

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Pinyo is the brain behind Moolanomy personal finance blog and a few other web sites. If you like this article, please subscribe for free daily email updates.

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