FDA Suggests Ways for Restaurants to Help Us Win the Weight War

An FDA-funded report released by The Keystone Center confirms what many of us battling weight issues already know: Overblown restaurant portion sizes and a cornucopia of high-cal choices are a hindrance when it comes to fighting obesity.

The solution, health officials suggest, is reigning in those supersized servings and being able (and encouraged) to choose healthier options.

So, how can restaurants help us to improve our diets and trim our waists? Several suggestions for ways restaurants can help consumers make better choices can be found in the report, including:

• Restaurants should participate in the "...marketing of lower-calories and less-calorie-dense foods should increase." The forum also suggests that promotion of high-cal foods and larger portions be decreased.
• Improved standards on marketing away-from-home foods to kids.
• Encouragement to include fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy and whole grains in the diet.
• Increased availability of lower-calorie products.
• Calorie information should be accessible and easy to use.

In closing, the report's authors said, "It is hoped that all sectors—public, private, and civic—can take action based on these recommendations and implementing strategies to help address the growing problem of obesity in the United States."

Source:
Keystone Forum on Away-From-Home Foods: Opportunities for Preventing Overweight and Obesity http://www.keystone.org/Public_Policy/Obesity.html