Are You Making A Healthy Choice?

     This is an award no restaurant wants to win. The Center  for Science in the Public Interest(CSPI) has sampled burgers, milkshakes, and pastas at the top restaurant chains in the U.S* to find the least nutritious dishes. They has given out this award every year since 2007. Topping CSPI's 2013 Extreme Eating list is the Cheesecake Factory's Bistro Shrimp Pasta.

 

The plate of Bistro Shrimp Pasta has 3,120 calories which is more than the average adult should eat in a day, according to the U.S Department of Agriculture. However, there is a smoothie that has almost 1/3 of the amount of calories a Bistro Shrimp Pasta has. 

     Burger King's 40 oz Peanut Power Plus Grape Smoothie has 1,460 calories and has six-and-a-half days' worth of sugar according to CSPI. Obesity is a huge health concern for the United States of America, affecting more than 1/3 of Americans. The reason why CSPI is making and putting out the lists is to help consumers make more healthier and informed choices about what they eat when they eat out."Once customers are aware of how high calories some of these things are," says Paige Einstein, a dietitian who helped work on the list, "we're hoping they're going to start demanding healthier options."

     I totally agree with Paige Einstein. I really hope that the U.S.A can start making healthier choices. We all know that obesity is a huge concern in the U.S, but not enough people are trying to help get rid of it. Fast Food restaurants could and would make a huge impact if they had more than one or two healthy choices on their menus and they could try to find another cooking style besides frying foods. I find that it is great what the CSPI is doing, they are showing people that eating out or eating some foods in general can by really fattening especially at fast food places. The CSPI is trying the best they can do to help but no one or not enough people are returning the favor. People themselves play the most important factor in obesity because it is up to them if they eat a salad or a greaser burger. People have the choice to have a long enjoyable life by eating healthy but more than 1/3 of Americans are not making that choice. Making a healthy choice one by one can help a lot. Anybody could help anyone in their community by having meetings, having group walks in the park or even exercising. Your life would change one step and one choice at a time. Will obesity eventually go away or will it grow? Will Americans make smarter decisions about what they eat in the future?