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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Does This Fat Make| Me Look Fat?

Wendy's is the reason America is getting fat. Or fatter, I should say. It all comes down to what Wendy's defines as a medium soft drink.

Last Saturday, I stopped by a Wendy's on my way to play a round of golf and ordered a spicy chicken sandwich, a baked potato, and a medium fruit punch drink. Not ideal food, but I had very few options and drinking on an empty stomach has always led to disaster.

So the lady at the drive-thru window handed me a bag of food. I put it on the passenger's seat, and turned to get what I though would be a moderately-sized beverage. One muttered expletive later, and I was the proud owner of a 32 ounce drink. Yes, you read that correctly. Thirty-two ounces is Wendy's' definition of a medium drink.

Compare that to McDonald's, where a 32 ounce drink is still called a large.

But have no fear. To alleviate any concerns, Wendy's maintains a small-medium-large portion size format. Only now, the large drink at Wendy's is 42 ounces, the equivalent of three and a half cans of soda.

It's no secret that obesity rates in this country are skyrocketing. In 2006 two states had obesity rates among adults above 30 percent of the population (Mississippi and West Virginia). By 2007 it was three states (Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee). However, the number of obese adults between 25-29 percent of the population jumped from 20 states to 27, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In one year.

Around 24 million people in the U.S. have some form of diabetes, up an amazing 15 percent from just two years ago. Ninety to 95 percent of people who have diabetes have Type 2 diabetes, which is the type of diabetes associated with obesity.

Between 2005 and 2006, about 33 percent of adult men and 35 percent of adult women were considered obese. In 1980, the number of obese adults was estimated to be 15 percent of the population.

Sorry for all the numbers. But it's important for you to know some basic statistics before reading what I'm about to say. It's highly technical.

Americans need to quit being lazy.

You can't swing a dead cat these days without hitting at least two fast food joints and a gas station selling giant bags of Doritos and one liter plastic bottles of soda. Eating out for dinner is considered almost typical these days. In 2007 the U.S. restaurant industry achieved 16 years of consecutive growth, and the takeout business led the industry.

I enjoy having someone else make me a nice dinner. I enjoy even more the fact I don't have to clean up after myself. But I also enjoy not having to worry about whether or not I'll die at the age of 42 from a heart attack.

It's no secret how to lose weight. In fact, it's one of the more easily understandable laws of nature. Burn more calories than you consume. Too many people in this country cannot or will not grasp this concept. It's easier to stuff your face, make a half-hearted attempt at maintaining your body, and then complain about how hard it is to do so.

The fact that Wendy's thinks it's alright to consider a 32 ounce drink a medium is a disturbing sign that we're going off the rails.

At least we'll have a soft landing.

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