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Dishes in fast food restaurants are getting bigger and bigger and bigger in calories. This is the result of a study conducted by a team of scientists led by Dr. Megan A. McCrory from Boston University (USA) and published in the Journal of Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
There are more and more fast food restaurants all over the world. In the USA, about 37 percent of them eat there every day. people over 20 years old, and in the age group from 20 to 39 years it is even 45 percent. Meanwhile, one meal consumed in such a restaurant with an appetizer and supplement provides an average of 767 kcal, which is nearly 40 percent. daily energy requirement (with a diet of 2000 kcal). And when we add a sweet drink to it, it will be 45-50 percent. daily calories requirement. Such "stuffing" with calories leads to, among others, obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.
To see how fast food meals have changed in terms of nutrition, scientists from Boston University selected the 10 most popular American fast food restaurants and analyzed their menus from 1986, 1991 and 2016. They examined the changes that took place over these 30 years in the dishes offered by the restaurants. The subjects of the research were: portion sizes, calorific value of dishes, their energy density as well as sodium, iron and calcium content. They analyzed meals from 3 categories: starters, side dishes and desserts.
The most important conclusion from the Boston study is that in the last 30 years the number of starters, side dishes and desserts offered by fast food restaurants has increased by as much as 226%! This means that each year, on average, 22 new dishes appeared on the menu!
What is more, the caloric content of dishes also increased in all the categories studied, and the most - for desserts - 62 kcal per decade. According to the authors of the study, this increase is mainly due to the increase in portion sizes: starters - 13 grams per decade, and desserts - 24 grams per decade. The study also showed that the content of sodium in the fast food offered also increased significantly, in all three analyzed categories.
The researchers hope their study results will raise consumer awareness and make them skip fast food to avoid consuming as many calories and sodium.
Based on: www.diabetologia.esculap.com,PAP