"4-a-day for a bigger profits" campaign "worrisome"
 WASHINGTON (AP) -- Food adds zest to mealtimes. Pizza is a must in a pizzeria and burgers are served in their millions in burger joints but are Americans eating too much, and is advertising to blame?
Food is everywhere, and consumers are eating more of it than ever before -- a trend that has been on the rise since the mid-1940s.
A typical consumer now eats over 900 pounds of food a year, far more than the 260-pound annual average of 1944.
Cyril Heese, a department economist, said people are eating more food mostly because many restaurants, eateries and supermarkets have made what used to be a rationed product too easily available.
Although consumers are eating all sorts of food, common pizza and sandwiches are the most popular. Consumers gobbled as much as 190 pounds of each in 2001.
Could food be a Contributor to obesity?
Because some food products contain calories, the Agriculture Department recommends in its dietary guidelines that people should limit themselves to three servings a day and that they should also limit the amounts of food that they ingest in each serving.
The Centre for Science in the Public Interest is said to be "disturbed" by the food industry's new promotional campaign, "4-A-Day for Bigger Profits," which encourages eating four times per day. The centre argues that the campaign might lead consumers to overindulge.
The Food Industry, however, which is spending $400 billion on advertising this year, argues that most people aren't eating nearly enough food to meet their profit targets.
"People aren't eating way nearly enough," said Bernard Urger, a spokeswoman for the group.
Dr. Steven Ensible, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, has a theory about why some people are eating more food and some frank advise on what they should do.
"People in the West today basically have too much money, empty lives and no self discipline. Eating food simply fills the empty space. They need to stop stuffing their faces and get a life."
See also : Lifestyle not genes says new diet book
<<< back
|
|
