restaurants

Posters Urge Diners To Avoid Super-Sized Portions

  • January 11, 2012

New York City's Department of Health has launched a poster campaign in subways warning its residents about the health risks of consuming "super-size" restaurant portions, reports Crain's New York.

Health officials say increases in the sizes of beverage and fries portions have resulted in New Yorkers now consuming 1,000 calories at lunch alone in QSRs. 

One poster, showing an overweight man with type 2 diabetes and an amputated leg, reads: "Cut your portions. Cut your risks."

The ads are the latest effort in the city's ongoing, aggressive efforts to reduce obesity and associated health conditions and medical costs. Federal statistics show the city's childhood obesity rate having dropped by 5.5% in the past five years -- in contrast to the national trend -- but 57% of adult New Yorkers and two out of five elementary-school children are still obese, and 10% of residents (including 14.2% of low-income residents versus 6.9% of highest-income residents) have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, Crain's reports.

The National Restaurant Association stressed that it supports the new federal regulations requiring calorie posting for large chains, and that restaurant operators continue to expand their offerings of healthier menu fare.

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