SUPER-SIZED PORTIONS CAUSE SUPER-SIZE PROBLEMS, SAYS REPORT

Contact: Leslie Mikkelsen, RD, MPH
Prevention Institute, 510-444-7738

OAKLAND - Fast food restaurants are reaping huge profits by peddling "value meals" to Americans, but are they really a bargain? A few pennies more for a super-sized meal doesn't just provide customers with a few extra bites and sips, but also more saturated fat and calories than most people need in an entire day, and many Americans are going to early graves because of it.

Oakland-based Prevention Institute, a non-profit organization founded to reduce illness and injury and enhance community well-being through prevention, participated in the data collection for a nationwide study whose results are being released today in Washington, D.C.

"Once you step inside, the in-your-face promotion is incredible. Eye-catching menus, posters -- you'd think combo meals are the only things you can order. All they let you know is that a few more dimes will buy you a lot more food. You just don't realize how much fat and how many calories you're getting in one sitting," said Paul Leung, MPH, Program Coordinator at Prevention Institute, who purchased food at several fast food restaurants in Oakland and Berkeley.

From Wallet To Waistline: The Hidden Costs of "Super-Sizing" was issued by the National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity, a coalition of over 225 national, state and local health organizations. The report compares the price, calories, and saturated fat in differently sized foods from fast-food chains, convenience stores, ice cream parlors and movie theaters.

"The results are no surprise to the Strategic Alliance to Prevent Childhood Obesity. The increase in portion sizes has been dramatic over the last few years and that has contributed to the skyrocketing obesity rate," said Leslie Mikkelsen, RD, MPH, a registered dietician and Managing Director at Prevention Institute. "These issues affect everyone, but the hardest hit are the low-income communities of color where residents have limited resources for food and some of the highest rates of chronic disease. Healthy foods should be more accessible everywhere and workplaces, neighborhoods, and cities should be more conducive to physical activity."

Prevention Institute is a member of The Strategic Alliance to Prevent Childhood Obesity, a coalition of seven leading nutrition organizations committed to addressing the epidemic of obesity among California's children. The Strategic Alliance believes it is critical to make changes in the nutrition and physical activity environment in California to successfully alter the current negative behaviors and declining health among California's children.

Among the National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity study findings:

• Upgrading from a 3-ounce Minibon to a Classic Cinnabon costs 24% more money, yet delivers 123% more calories. The large size also provides almost three-quarters of a day's worth of artery-clogging saturated fat.

• Switching from 7-Eleven's Gulp to a Double Gulp costs 42% more, but provides 300% more calories. Those 37 extra cents will deliver 450 extra calories -- more than you'd get in a Quarter Pounder.

• McDonalds actually charges customers more to buy a smaller, lower-calorie meal. Purchasing a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, small french fries, and small Coke separately costs 25 cents more than the Quarter Pounder large value meal, which comes with a large fries and large Coke.

• Moving from a small to a medium bag of movie theater popcorn costs about 71 cents. A 23% in price provides 125% more calories and two days' worth of saturated fat. (And that's unbuttered popcorn!)

According to the report, the practice of "bundling" -- adding sides like fries and a soft drink to a fast-food sandwich -- is responsible for some of the largest increases in calorie content. And fountain drinks proved to be especially bad health bargains. They cost the least to upgrade and deliver the biggest calorie boosts, yet they provide some of the highest profit margins for retailers.

Retailer profits aren't the only thing going up. Obesity rates for adults rose by 60% between 1990 and 2000 alone, while childhood obesity rates doubled in the last 20 years. Obesity causes an estimated 300,000 premature deaths each year, second only to smoking as the nation's leading cause of preventable death. Type 2 diabetes can no longer be called adult-onset diabetes because it now occurs so frequently in children. With sobering facts like these, California needs policy changes to ensure less marketing in schools and communities, less acceptance of advertisements targeting children, and ensuring that people have increased access to healthy options.

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