Friday, August 27, 2010

Is Bigger Really Better?

1/2 lb Angus Burger
Total Calories: 525
Fat Calories: 311
Total Fat: 35 grams
Saturated Fat: 13 grams
Trans Fat: 0 grams
French Fries Small Plating
Total Calories: 588
Fat Calories: 177
Total Fat: 20 grams
Saturated Fat: 4 grams
Trans Fat: 0 grams
Half Chocolate Milkshake
Total Calories:281
Fat Calories: 135
Total Fat: 15 grams
Saturated Fat: 9 grams
Trans Fat: 0 grams
Ok, get your mind out of the gutter. Now that I have your attention. Well I told myself I would never blog,, but something happened on my way out to dinner.  We were celebrating our kids end of school and them making the honor roll. So we told them they could choose any place they wanted for dinner for their celebration. Of course kids will be kids and they wanted to go to a local establishment that specializes in high quality beef. I am sure you have heard of the chain called Cheeburger, Cheeburger. If you haven’t, it’s a 50’s themed restaurant that caters to families with a menu including kids meals served in cardboard replicas of 57 Chevy, specializing in their thousands of   flavors of milkshakes. So we sit down and order our meals. Our food arrives and the kids are very excited at the presentation and can’t wait to dig in. Just as we are ready to take our first bite, we hear a very loud clanging of a bell. A waiter shouts out “ladies and gentlemen, over here we have 13 year old Johnny who just finished our 1/2 pound burger! Let’s all cheer for him!!!” At that moment, for me,  time stood still and I knew I needed to blog. ARE YOU FRIGGIN KIDDING ME?!?! With the obesity rate at 60% and childhood obesity rate at 32% are we seriously cheering for this?! What have we come to as a society when we encourage our youth to become gluttens? And worse still are the parents proudly gazing at their sons “achievement”. Fast forward 10 years from now and let’s see who’s cheering for Johnny when he ends up morbidly obese. 
So let’s take a quick peak at how many calories Johhny had in one sitting
Before I give you the grand total, here is the
13 Year Old Male Average Caloric Intake
Grand Total: 1562
5 feet
Male
13 years old
90 lbs
And here is what Johnny had in one sitting
Total Calories:1,394
Calories From Fat: 623
Total Fat: 70 grams
Saturated Fat: 26
So as you can see on all fronts, Johnny has almost reached his daily intake in one meal, he is over in total fat and saturated fat, in just one meal. 
So we can only assume that if this is the normal eating habits of this particular boy, it will be only a matter of time before he to becomes a statistic.
The moral of the story is we as parents have to be actively involved in the education of our children and their eating habits.  It is our responsibility to monitor there intake and offer them healthy alternatives. If left to their own accord, all children will make the poor choice first. Because they clearly lack the knowledge and base there choices on taste alone.
 So in closing I will let my 12 year old son finish with his thoughts.
Hi. When I went out to Cheeburger(yes, that is how it’s spelled, it’s a franchise) with my dad, mom, and sister I had a good time. The food (obviously) tasted really really good. But today when my dad showed me the calories I was...shocked. One 1/2 lb is like 500 calories!!! I would never go out to a restaurant thinking, “Hey I know! Let’s go have a 500 calorie burger and throw on another 500 for the fries!” I would NEVER want to eat that on purpose (Although I know some people who would.) just to get my picture on the “Hey look what I ate” wall of fame  which is on display at the restaurant. Cheeburger is a great place to go-just not every day and there are healthy choices on the menu to choose from. (But I’m still going to have my chocolate shake) Just remember: Moderation moderation moderation.
Well said my son and let us not forget exercise