Many of our eating habits have been molded for convenience, to fuel ourselves as we’re heading to the next meeting or the kids’ soccer game.
Fast food can be found everywhere, from hallway vending machines to street corner joints. Most of us spend a lot of time away from home, so many of our meals are not eaten at home.
For a Columbia household with a monthly budget of $1,000, about $200 will be spent on food, according to a 2007 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Families also spend nearly twice as much on meals ordered at fast-food and sit-down restaurants than they do on groceries needed to prepare meals at home.
Their food purchases, however, do not match guidelines recommended by nutritionist and wellness experts, said Dale Brigham, who is with MU’s Nutritional Sciences Department. Columbia residents are projected to spend $1,150 in 2008 on meat alone. This figure is nearly 2 1/2 times more than what they will spend on fruits and vegetables.
“The quantity of a serving of meat is three ounces — after it’s cooked,” said Brigham, explaining the recommended amount.
“When people go into restaurants, what they receive is about eight ounces.”
“I love my hamburgers,” said Randall McMillen, 60, a retired police officer who has devoted himself to keeping in shape.
The average Columbian is projected to spend at least $270 on soda, candy bars, chips and other snack foods in 2008.
“People would really benefit not only their pocketbook but also their health by rethinking the ‘what’s-for-dinner’ question,” said Sally Stegemann, a dietitian with Nutrition and Lifestyle Counseling on Chapel Hill Road.
Stegemann and Brigham confirm that worrisome rates of diabetes and obesity-related problems in Missouri and the rest of the country are linked to increasing portion sizes.
Both of them encourage consumers, including nutritionists and dietitians, to choose diets that are moderate in meat and have higher intakes of fresh vegetables, fruit and whole grains.
“Many healthy foods are very economical — beans, dried pasta, frozen vegetables and fruits,” Stegemann said. “The real cost is the price you pay for poor health related to a diet of seemingly cheap but unhealthful food choices.”
Brigham agreed. “There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with the American diet; it’s what’s imbedded in our culture, and what we like,” he said.
“There’s no single perfect diet, but most of us can improve the set of food we eat.”