|
FROM WALLET TO WAISTLINE: THE HIDDEN COSTS OF
"SUPER SIZING"
A report prepared by The National
Alliance for Nutrition and Activity
Table of Contents
I. Summary
Americans who feel tempted to order larger portion sizes for just
a little more money might be surprised to learn the nutritional
costs of those "bargains." From Wallet to Waistline looks at
the financial and caloric costs of upgrading to larger portion sizes
of single-serve foods at fast-food restaurants, convenience stores,
and other retail food establishments. The results show that
upgrading to larger serving sizes often increases price only
modestly, but substantially increases calorie and fat content. Value
marketing (providing more food for less money) is a technique that
is profitable for food companies, but that results in large portion
sizes and contributes to overeating.
II. Value Marketing
The increasing size of American food portions is linked to the
U.S. food industry's growing reliance on value marketing. Value
marketing is a technique used to increase food company profits. It
encourages the customer to spend a little extra money to purchase
larger portion sizes and leaves the customer with the impression
that s/he has "gotten a deal."
For food companies, the actual monetary costs of offering larger
portions are small, because the cost of the food itself is small
relative to labor, packaging, overhead, transportation, marketing,
and other costs. Thus, even the relatively small amounts of extra
money consumers spend when "upgrading" to larger portion sizes mean
larger corporate profits.
In addition to using price to encourage the purchase of larger
portion sizes, fast-food restaurants, in particular, actively
encourage consumers to "upgrade" to larger sizes with
point-of-purchase displays and verbal sales prompts from employees.
Fast-food establishments also encourage consumers to combine their
entrée with high-profit-margin, high-calorie soft drinks and side
dishes like French fries ("Value Meal," "Combo Meal," etc.) -- a
technique known in the food industry as bundling.
Larger portions not only contain more calories, but studies show
that when people are served more food, they eat more food (Young
& Nestle, 2002; Rolls et al, 2000; Wansink, 1996; Booth et al,
1981). In addition, a national survey found that when people eat
out, 67% report that they eat their entire entree either all or most
of the time (AICR, 2001). Restaurant owners believe that people
generally do not share restaurant entrees. Rather, entrees are
purchased for consumption by individuals (Young & Nestle, 1995).
Thus, large portion sizes likely contribute to overeating.
III. Major Findings
A. The Costs of "Super Sizing"
For small increases in price, people can purchase larger
portions, and as a result, end up with substantially more calories
and saturated fat (Tables 1 and 2).
At Cinnabon, a Minibon costs an average of $2.01 and provides 300
calories and 5 grams of saturated fat. For 48 cents more (a 24%
increase in price), you can buy a Classic Cinnabon -- along with 370
more calories (123% more) and almost three times as much saturated
fat.
|
 Even
"Titanic" wasn't long enough to justify a grocery bag-sized
order of popcorn. A large, unbuttered popcorn contains an
average of 1,160 calories and almost three days' worth of
saturated fat.
|
At movie theaters, upgrading from a small to a medium-sized bag
of popcorn without butter costs just 71 more cents. However, it also
costs an additional 500 calories (i.e., a 23% increase in price buys
125% more calories). If you shell out another 60 cents, you can get
a large, which brings the total to 1,160 calories and almost three
days' worth of saturated fat. (Getting butter topping adds even more
calories and fat, and many movie theaters provide free refills with
a large popcorn.)
At 7-Eleven, 33 more cents buys you "The Big One" Snickers candy
bar or the "King Size" Kit Kat rather than the regular-sized bar.
Getting the bigger candy bar also costs an additional 220-230
calories.
For almost all of the items purchased for this study, increases
in caloric and saturated fat content far outpaced increases in
price. However, there were exceptions to this trend. For a few
items, such as "TCBY" 96% Fat Free Frozen Yogurt and upgrading from
a tall (small) to a grande (medium) caffe latte at Starbucks, you
get what you pay for. Going from a tall Starbucks caffe latte to a
grande latte cost an average of 55 cents. That 23% increase in cost
is closely in line with the 24% increase in calories and 29%
increase in saturated fat. (Note: upgrading from a grande (medium)
to venti (large) or from a tall (small) to venti (large) provides
two to three times the increase in calories relative to the increase
in price.)
|
 How
thirsty do they think we are? Ordering a super size Coke
rather than the small costs 60 cents more and 260 extra
calories.
|
B. Hard Facts on Soft Drinks
Soft drinks that are dispensed and sold by the cup (fountain
drinks) provide high profit margins and are mainstays of fast-food
chains, convenience stores, and movie theaters.
Soft drinks provide some of the least expensive upgrades
documented in this report. At McDonald's, just 16 cents takes you
from a small to a medium Coca-Cola Classic, and tacks on an extra 60
calories to the bargain. Upgrading from a medium to a large Coke
will set you back only 24 more cents, while adding another 100
calories. Should you give in to the invitation to "super size" your
drink, add another 20 cents -- and another 100 calories. All told,
ordering a super size Coke rather than the small costs 60 cents and
260 calories.
At 7-Eleven, it costs even less to upgrade soft drinks, and the
available portion sizes are even bigger. Why not get the Double Gulp
(the largest size available) instead of the Gulp (the smallest
size)? It costs just 37 cents more. However, it contains four times
as many calories. It clocks in at 600 calories -- that is 30% of a
day's calories in a drink.
|
 Supersizing food items produces supersize health
problems.
|
C. Value Meals
The practice known as bundling -- adding a soft drink and a side
dish like French fries to the purchase of an entrée -- is
responsible for some of the largest increases in calorie content
that we found. People usually want to eat meals, rather than just an
entrée. But fast-food bundling often steers customers toward
calorically-dense, low-nutrition foods like French fries and soda,
rather than toward healthier options such as salads and yogurt
parfaits.
Point-of-purchase displays and prompts offered by employees
actively encourage customers to purchase "Meals." While purchasing
foods for this study, we were prompted with questions like: "You
only want a sandwich?" "Would you like a meal with that?" "Do you
want to Combo?"
At McDonald's, the difference between a Quarter Pounder with
Cheese and a Quarter Pounder w/Cheese medium Extra Value Meal is
$1.41, 660 calories, and 4 grams of saturated fat. A Wendy's Classic
Double with Cheese packs a considerable 760 calories and 19 grams of
saturated fat. Turning it into an Old Fashioned Combo Meal adds 600
more calories and 7 grams of saturated fat. It costs just $1.57
more. Turning a Burger King Whopper into a Value Meal costs just
$1.69, but adds 590 extra calories.
"Value Meals" cost less than it would cost to buy each component
separately. At McDonald's, the cost to purchase a Quarter Pounder
with Cheese, a medium French fries, and a medium Coke separately
would be an average of $5.03. A medium Quarter Pounder w/Cheese
Extra Value Meal costs just $3.74.
|
 Not
such a bargain after all. Turning a Burger King Whopper into a
Value Meal costs just $1.69, but adds 590 extra calories.
|
Once you decide on a "Value Meal," there are additional
incentives to upgrade to a larger meal. At Burger King, it costs
just 87 cents to "king size" the medium Whopper Value Meal. King
sizing also adds 440 calories. While conducting this study, prompts
to purchase a meal often were directly followed by prompts to
upgrade to larger sized meals. We were asked: "Do you want to Combo?
Do you want to Biggie?" "You can Super Size the large for only 15
cents more."
Interestingly, none of the fast-food outlets that we visited
featured on their menus value-priced meals that contained soft
drinks and French fries in small sizes, with the exception of
kid-oriented meals like McDonald's Happy Meal. At McDonald's, a
Quarter Pounder with Cheese with small fries and a small Coke
provides 890 calories -- 50% fewer calories than in the large Extra
Value Meal. To buy each component separately (small fries, small
drink, and Quarter Pounder with Cheese) would cost $4.40 -- 8 cents
more than the cost of the large Extra Value Meal.
Return to top of page
|
 *
Obese is defined by the 95th percentile of the sex-specific
2000 CDC BMI-for-age-growth charts.
** Data for 1966-70 is
for adolescents ages 12-17.
|
IV. Obesity and the Nation's Health
As American portion sizes have grown over the past two decades,
the prevalence of overweight and obesity among U.S. adults and
children also has risen. Obesity is one of the leading public health
challenges of our time. Overweight and obesity affect the majority
of American adults (61%) (NCCDPHP, 2002). Obesity rates in adults
increased by 60% between 1991 and 2000 (Mokdad et al, 2001), and
rates doubled in children over the last 20 years (NCHS, 2001).
The negative health consequences of the rising obesity rates are
already evident. Rates of diabetes (most of which is type 2, which
is largely due to obesity, poor diet, and physical inactivity) rose
50% between 1990 and 2000 (Mokdad et al, 2001). In addition, type 2
diabetes rates are increasing in children. Obesity costs American
families, businesses, and governments approximately $117 billion in
health-care and related costs each year (US DHHS, 2001).
Obesity is second only to smoking as the leading cause of
preventable death in the United States, and is estimated to cause
300,000 premature deaths each year (US DHHS, 2001). Obesity
increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and
many cancers, and adversely affects a wide range of medical
conditions including high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol,
gallbladder disease, sleep apnea, and respiratory problems.
V. Growing Portion Sizes
Food portion sizes have grown over time. In the 1950s, a "family
size" bottle of Coke was 26 ounces, while now a single-serve bottle
is 20 ounces. McDonald's original burger, fries, and 12-ounce Coke
provided 590 calories. Today, a super size Extra Value Meal with a
Quarter Pounder with Cheese, super size fries, and a super size Coke
delivers 1,550 calories. A typical bagel used to weigh 2 to 3
ounces, compared to 4 to 7 ounces today (Young & Nestle, 1995).
Although portion sizes started to increase in the 1970s, they
grew sharply in the 1980s and have continued to increase since then
(Young & Nestle, 2002). This trend has occurred in parallel with
increases in overall calorie intake, available calories in the food
supply, and the prevalence of overweight and obesity (Young &
Nestle, 2002).
Although portion sizes and obesity rates have grown in parallel,
larger portions are not, of course, solely responsible for the
current obesity epidemic in the U.S. Many factors influence body
weight, including levels of physical activity and other dietary
factors. However, excess energy intake is a major cause. According
to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) national survey data,
Americans' average daily caloric intake has risen from 1,876 kcal to
2,043 kcal from 1978 to 1995 (Lin et al, 1999). That
167-calorie-per-day increase theoretically works out to an extra 17
pounds of body fat every year (given no change in metabolism or
physical activity levels).
VI. Study Methodology
Popular single-serve food items that are widely available in
different portion sizes at national fast-food chains, convenience
stores, ice cream parlors, coffee shops, and movie theaters were
identified. Nutrition information for restaurant foods was
determined from company websites and independent laboratory testing
by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (Jacobson and
Hurley, 2002). Nutrition information for packaged foods sold at
convenience stores was obtained from Nutrition Facts labels.
During the first week of May 2002, members of the National
Alliance for Nutrition and Activity gathered pricing data in
Washington, DC; Des Moines, IA; Little Rock, AR; Sacramento, CA; and
Oakland, CA. Pricing data were collected on a standardized form
using a consistent, predetermined protocol. When possible, price
information was obtained from two store locations in each city. At
the first location, volunteers purchased each food item and recorded
the pre-tax price along with information about sales prompts and
other point-of-purchase displays. At the second location, pricing
data were determined from the menu or menu board or, for 7-Eleven,
by shelf price or by having the product scanned at the cash
register.
The average price for each portion size of each food item was
determined by calculating the average price per city and then
averaging the price between cities.
VII. Conclusions
Value marketing is ubiquitous, and "getting more for your money"
is ingrained in the American psyche. However, bigger is rarely
better when it comes to food. The true price of larger portions is
larger calorie and saturated fat numbers, and larger waistlines.
Health professionals and nutrition educators should help consumers
understand the health cost of "super sizing" and the benefits of
"normal sizing." Our advice to consumers: When in doubt, order the
small or share with a friend. The food industry could help by 1)
offering competitively priced value meals that include healthier
side dishes like salads, 2) offering competitively priced value
meals with small fries and beverages, and 3) providing clear
nutrition information at the point of purchase.
Return to top of page
VIII. Table 1: Bad Bargains
7-Eleven Gulp to Double Gulp Coca-Cola Classic
37
extra cents buys 450 extra calories
(42% more money = 300% more
calories)
Cinnabon Minibon to Classic Cinnabon
48 extra cents
buys 370 extra calories
(24% more money = 123% more calories)
Movie Theater Small to Medium Unbuttered Popcorn
71
extra cents buys 500 extra calories
(23% more money = 125% more
calories)
7-Eleven Regular to "The Big One" Snickers Candy Bar
33 extra cents buys 230 extra calories
(48% more money = 82%
more calories)
7-Eleven Doritos, Nacho Cheesier! Flavor, "Big Grab" to
"99 Cents Size"
24 extra cents buys 230 extra calories
(32%
more money = 88% more calories)
McDonald's Small to Super Size Coca-Cola Classic
60
extra cents buys 260 extra calories
(58% more money = 173% more
calories)
McDonald's Small to Large Fries
64 extra cents buys
330 extra calories
(62% more money = 157% more calories)
McDonald's Quarter Pounder with Cheese to Medium Quarter
Pounder with Cheese Extra Value Meal
$1.41 extra buys 660 extra
calories
(61% more money = 125% more calories)
Subway 6-inch to 12-inch Tuna Sub
$1.53 extra buys 420
extra calories
(47% more money = 100% more calories)
Wendy's Classic Double w/Cheese to Classic Double w/Cheese
Old Fashioned Combo Meal 2
$1.57 extra buys 600 extra calories
(47% more money = 79% more calories)
Baskin Robbins Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, Kids Scoop to
Double Scoop
$1.62 extra buys 390 extra calories
(129% more
money = 260% more calories)
IX. Table
2: Price and Nutrition Information for Common Restaurant and
Convenience Store Foods (This table opens on a separate web
page.)
X. References
American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR). "As
Restaurant Portions Grow, Vast Majority of Americans Still Belong to
"Clean Plate Club, New Survey Finds." Washington, DC: AICR News
Release, January 15, 2001.
Booth DA, Fuller J, Lewis V. "Human Control of Body
Weight: Cognitive or Physiological? Some Energy Related Perceptions
and Misperceptions." In: Cioffi LA, James WPT, Van Itallie TB, eds.
The Body Weight Regulatory System: Normal and Disturbed
Mechanisms. New York, NY: Raven Press, 1981, pp. 305-314.
Jacobson M, Hurley J. Restaurant
Confidential. New York: Workman Publishing, 2002.
Lin B, Guthrie J, Frazao E. Away-From-Home Foods
Increasingly Important to Quality of American Diet. Washington,
DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, 1999.
Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 749.
Mokdad AH, Bowman B, Ford E, Vinicor F, Marks J,
Koplan J. "The Continuing Epidemics of Obesity and Diabetes in the
United States." Journal of the American Medical Association
2001, vol. 286, no. 10, pp. 1195-1200.
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and
Health Promotion (NCCDPHP), Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC). "Obesity and Overweight -- A Public Health
Epidemic." Accessed at http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/epidemic.htm
on January 9, 2002.
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS),
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Prevalence of
Overweight Among Children and Adolescents: United States, 1999."
Accessed at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/overwght99.htm
on March 16, 2001.
Rolls BJ, Engell D, Birch LL. "Serving Portion Size
Influences 5-Year-Old But Not 3-Year-Old Children's Food Intake."
Journal of the American Dietetic Association 2000, vol. 100,
pp. 232-234.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (US
DHHS). "The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease
Overweight and Obesity 2001." Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Office of the
Surgeon General, 2001.
Wansink B. "Can Package Size Accelerate Usage
Volume?" Journal of Marketing 1996, vol. 60, pp. 1-14.
Young LR, Nestle M. "The Contribution of Expanding
Portion Sizes to the U.S. Obesity Epidemic." American Journal of
Public Health 2002, vol. 92, pp. 246-249.
Young LR, Nestle M. "Portion Sizes in Dietary
Assessment: Issues and Policy Implications." Nutrition
Reviews 1995, vol. 53, pp. 149-158.
Return
to top of page
Putting Prevention at the Center of Community Well
Being
www.preventioninstitute.org |
![[PI Logo]](Prevention Institute From Wallet to Waistline The Hidden Costs of Super Sizing_files/pilogosm.gif)
![[ ]](Prevention Institute From Wallet to Waistline The Hidden Costs of Super Sizing_files/space.gif){kind=small}
