Salads are nice, but burgers and fries sell

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Americans talk skinny but eat fat.

No matter that First Lady Michelle Obama has been on a crusade for a year and a half to slim down the country. Never mind that some restaurants have started listing calories on their menus. Forget even that we keep saying we want to eat more healthfully. When Americans eat out, we order burgers and fries anyway.

“If I wanted something healthy, I would not even stop in at McDonald’s,” says Jonathan Ryfiak, 24, a New York trapeze instructor who watches his diet at home but orders comfort foods such as chicken nuggets and fries when he hits a fast-food joint.

In a country where more than two-thirds of the population is overweight or obese, food choices often are made on impulse, not intellect. So, though 47 percent of Americans say they’d like restaurants to offer more healthful items such as salads and baked potatoes, only 23 percent tend to order those foods, according to a survey last year by food research firm Technomic.

That explains the popularity of KFC’s Double Down, a sandwich of bacon and cheese slapped between two slabs of fried chicken. It’s the reason IHOP offers a Simple & Fit menu with yogurt and fruit bowls, but its top seller remains a 1,180-calorie breakfast sampler of eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, hash browns and pancakes. It’s also why only 11 percent of parents ordered apple slices as an alternative to fries in McDonald’s Happy Meals.

The mixed message hasn’t stopped many restaurants from offering more- healthful fare. After all, the government has stepped up its oversight — and influence — over the industry that it blames for America’s expanding waistline. National rules about putting calorie information on menus are expected to take effect next year. And Mrs. Obama touts restaurants and companies that slash calories in foods.

But revamping a menu can be difficult and expensive, requiring months or even years.

And efforts to curb unhealthful eating aren’t always fruitful. In 2009, a year after New York made chains start listing calories on menus, only 15 percent of diners ordered lower-calorie foods, according to a study in the British Medical Journal.

As a result, many chains have scaled back their efforts to roll out healthful foods.