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Fast-food menus defy obesity crisis
Nutritionists decry supersize menus during an epidemic of overweight kids.
By Deb Kollars / Sacramento Bee
April 5, 2005
In the space of 24 hours, Americans were hit last week with two nuggets of news concerning their stomachs.
In one, Burger King announced the arrival of a new breakfast item so big it was given a whopper of a name, the Enormous Omelet Sandwich. At 730 calories, it contains eggs, bacon, sausage, and not one but two slices of cheese.
Oh, and 47 grams of fat and 1,860 milligrams of sodium.
In the other announcement, the nation learned that on many measures, ranging from drug use to violence, children today are better off than their parents were as kids. But when it comes to health, the growing obesity crisis has left children as a group much less healthy than in the past.
Some nutritionists found not just irony, but a disturbing sign of the times in the back-to-back announcements.
"We have a mega-obesity problem in the United States, and the food industry is partially to blame," said Judith Stern, a professor of nutrition at the University of California, Davis. "This makes me frustrated and angry."
The Enormous Omelet Sandwich is neither the first, nor biggest, addition to the competitive and ever-growing kingdom of fast food. Pizza chains double-stuff their crusts, while convenience stores serve sodas in half-gallon servings. Last winter, Hardee's launched a 1,300-calorie Monster burger loaded with two one-third-pound slabs of beef, plus bacon and cheese.
To be sure, fast-food restaurants also have begun including more healthful offerings such as salads, yogurts and fruit cups.
This past week, McDonald's added a vegetarian bagel sandwich to its stores in Japan.
But burgers, fries and bacon-laced breakfast sandwiches remain mainstays. And as people fill up on such fare, they often pay a price, according to health experts.
Fifteen percent of school-age children are obese, a rate that more than doubled over 30 years.
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