Supersizing

The term supersize entered the American lexicon by way of fast-food restaurants. In an effort to increase sales and profits, many fast-food restaurant chains introduced larger food and beverage portion sizes and packaged them together with other items at prices cheaper than if they were purchased separately. The use of the term undoubtedly increased after the release of the documentary film Super Size Me by director and protagonist Morgan Spurlock. In the film, [Page 726]Spurlock subsists exclusively on food from McDonald's for 30 days. During this time, he consumes an average of 5,000 calories per day and limits his physical activity to walking no more than 5,000 steps per day. As a consequence, he gains 25 pounds, his triglycerides go up, and his liver function deteriorates. The regimen that he exposed himself to was certainly extreme, but it pointed out the potentially harmful effects of being physically inactive and consuming a high-calorie diet made up exclusively of fast food.

Economic considerations have motivated the practice of supersizing for both restaurants and consumers. The practice is particularly profitable for fast-food restaurants because the cost of the food ingredients represent only a small proportion of the total cost of selling the products. They can sell their larger-portion-size products at higher prices without substantially raising their costs. In the process, consumers get more food for less money. Consumers also do not have to purchase more than one order to get more food. Many people want more of a particular food item, say fries, but feel self-conscious purchasing more than one order, believing that they may be perceived as being gluttonous. Supersizing allows people to get more fries and seemingly not be seen as overdoing it, making it more socially acceptable to eat more food. Supersizing would almost seem like a win–win proposition for the fast-food industry and consumers, except for the fact that more food, and in particular more fast food, is very likely to have contributed to increases in rates of obesity.

Many of the foods sold at fast-food restaurants are highly processed, low in fiber, and high in sugar, salt, fat, saturated fat, and calories. These foods are also highly palatable and their consumption is very reinforcing. Americans are eating a larger proportion of their meals at restaurants and at fast-food restaurants in particular. Americans, finding themselves too busy to prepare meals at home, have begun to rely more and more on the increasing number of fast-food locations with increasingly extended hours of operation to do their cooking for them.

In at attempt to shed light on the question of why French adults, who have a penchant for foods high in fat, are significantly thinner than American adults, one study compared the portion sizes and time spent consuming meals in restaurants in the United States and in France. The portion sizes in the United States were significantly larger and the time spent eating meals was considerably shorter. Individuals presented with larger portion sizes tend to consume more calories than they would otherwise and food served fast and consumed fast can contribute toward overeating because there is a lag time between consumption and satiety.

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