 "Photo: Chad Lewis")
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Overweight America, put down the fried chicken and go eat some vegetables.
More than 1.5 million California teens eat fast food daily, the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research reported. And I'm assuming most college students have similar eating habits.
However, fast food company Yum! Brands Inc. is voluntarily putting product calorie information on the menu boards of restaurants such as Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver's and A&W All American Food in hopes that you will reconsider that piece of fried chicken you're about to devour.
But, if the majority of the population thinks the same way I do, having the nutritional facts displayed on menus really won't do much.
Just look at McDonald's. The company already put nutrition facts on sandwich wrappers, backs of tray liners and on the walls of the building, yet people continue to eat there anyway.
Even in Bell Memorial Union nutrition facts are posted but no one notices or cares. A grilled ham and cheese sandwich is worse for you than a cheeseburger, but will this information make you not want to eat one anymore? Probably not.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation Sept. 30 requiring chains with at least 20 restaurants in the state to provide calorie counts on menus beginning in 2011, The Associated Press reported.
But Yum! Brands Inc. decided not to wait until 2011, and is putting the information up now.
With the intention of making this a regulation as soon as possible for all the company's restaurants across the nation, Yum! Brands Inc. is probably hoping to help consumers choose healthier options and eventually help reduce the prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes in America.
In 2007, 22.6 percent of California's population was obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Image from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Fortunately, I'm not obese nor do I have diabetes, so this epidemic isn't something I typically worry about. Since I'm not worried, sometimes hitting up the drive-thru of Taco Bell doesn't seem like such a bad idea.
When I choose to eat fast food, I already know it's bad for me. So when I'm ordering that chicken Grilled Stuft Burrito I always get, knowing it's 640 calories and 23 grams of fat will probably make me cringe a little but won't be enough to make me change my mind.
On the other hand, if you're a person who dines at fast food restaurants on a regular basis, you may want to take the nutrition facts seriously and reconsider what you're going to order.
But, as we all know, it's hard to break a bad habit, so those who engage in bad eating habits and choose fast food over more healthful options will find it difficult to change their ideas of what is good. Putting the nutritional information where people can see it will probably make them choose more wisely sometimes, but won't be enough to keep them away from the unhealthier items for good.
The only way people are going to start eating more healthful is if someone forces them to do so.
Instead of just stating the nutritional information, fast food restaurants can make the menu healthier altogether by cooking with different ingredients and preparing the food in different ways. Using less cheese and condiments such as mayonnaise and cooking with vegetable oil would lower the calories and fat in a meal.
There should also be portion control. Anything in excess is never good, so supersizing your meal shouldn't be an option. It's OK to eat fast food in moderation, and eliminating the option of changing a meal from a "small" to a "large" would allow us to eat it at a healthier level.
Drinks such as water, tea and 100 percent fruit juice should replace sodas. Soy or veggie options could replace hamburgers, fruits and vegetables should come with meals and you should have to pay extra if you want fries instead.
While all of this may sound absolutely absurd and completely takes away from the fast food experience, I think it's the only way to make a difference in our overweight nation.
Kudos to Yum! Brands Inc. for taking the first step in creating a healthier America, but if it cares about its customers' health the way it says it does, the next steps need to be taken as well. Otherwise, not much will change, and people such as myself will continue to eat the fried chicken.
Kelley Chandler can be reached at kchandler@theorion.com
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