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 huge and more expensive. Personally, I prefers the Thai’s way 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 the restaurant. 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 the Thai farmers face 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 the left overs
3. Patrons take the left overs home

Unfortunately, I think #1 and #2 outweigh #3 by a large margin. Even if they take the 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. 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 the oversize portions in the U.S.?

Pinyo is the owner of Moolanomy Personal Finance and an entrepreneur with over 20 years of business experience. He is interested in business management, investing and wealth management. He has written for many online publications, including American Express Currency and U.S. News Money. You can follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

Add Your Question or Comment (9 Comments)

1. plonkee:

   August 27, 2007 at 11:47 am

   I don’t know about portions in the US, but in the UK (where food is quite a bit more expensive) I find restaurant portions to be nearly twice the size that I would serve myself. I think I end up eating about two thirds. Read into that what you will.
2. Steve:

   August 27, 2007 at 6:34 pm

   As a former 300+ pound person, I find the portion sizes in the US appalling. It took a massive change of lifestyle and attitude for me to lose weight. I lost about 120 pounds (although I gained back 20 post-baby – dads get fatter, too!) after I started eating only what I needed to function, not until my stomach strained and hurt due to stretching. Most Americans want to eat until their stomachs explode, and that’s a terrible, terrible habit to have. Now I try to eat very little meat and stop eating after one serving and wait 20 minutes before eating again to make sure I’m actually hungry – it makes a big difference.
3. Pinyo:

   August 27, 2007 at 8:09 pm

   Plonkee – It means England has the same problem and you are over eating?
   
   Steve – Congratulation on loosing weight — that’s a lot. I am gaining weight while my wife is pregnant too. It seems that she orders and eats more food. Being taught not to waste food, I can’t resist trying to finish every plate off and end up over eating.
4. Steve:

   August 27, 2007 at 8:13 pm

   Trust me, it get worse once the baby comes. You have no energy left to eat healthy or exercise or anything! My best advice is to start stocking up now on healthy and cheap food so that once the baby comes you’ll have a number of options for food. My biggest challenge now is to remember that my son notices what I eat and that by watching me he’s setting his habits for life…
5. Pinyo:

   August 28, 2007 at 6:16 am

   I need to exercise more. And yes, kids do mimic adults, so we have to be very careful around them. It is not only what we eat, but also how we act.
6. SavingDiva:

   August 30, 2007 at 12:03 pm

   I have the same problem Plonkee does. I usually over-eat when I eat at a restaurant. However, I’ve tried to cut down on eating out…it’s going pretty well right now…
7. Pinyo:

   August 30, 2007 at 12:58 pm

   I think we all do Eating out less is cheaper and healthier. Right now my family eat out daily due to kitchen renovation.
8. Eric:

   August 31, 2007 at 12:04 pm

   One solution here is to split an entree. My wife and I have done this at restaurants before. Some restaurants have no problem with it, while others seem a bit put off by the request. If they get upset, just ask for a second plate and do it yourself.

   Nowadays, we don’t eat out too often. It’s a luxury and we generally both get an entree.
9. Pinyo:

   August 31, 2007 at 12:32 pm

   My wife and I often split as well. I always ask the restaurant if they allow us to split. If they said “no” and want to slap us with extra charge, we walk. Some restaurants are very nice and pre-split the dishes for you. I went to one that split the soup, salad, and entree for us.