The Big Cookie

I lived all my early life until college in a cosmopolitan town in South India. I loved drinking tea. A cup of tea in India was 2 maybe 3 oz. tops. A sandwich bread slice was about 3.5 inches. And cakes were small- pretty small.People had 3-4 cups of tea or coffee adding up to 8-12 oz. in a day.The first major shock I experienced in the US was not the culture shock most people warned me about. I had seen enough of television to not be surprised. It was good to know that MTV was not representative of how people dressed and acted in public in the US. But the real shock was portion size. Everything was huge. The burgers, the coffees, the sandwiches, the soup bowls- everything was supersized. And there were larger sized options on top of that. If a single burger didn't do it for you, have a double. If a large latte (12 oz.) wasn't enough, you could go for a grande or a venti (all of 20 oz.).A week or so ago, I had a catered lunch from Panera and my healthy salad came with a cookie. And to call it huge would be an understatement. The cookie was ginormous. I am not really sure what Panera was thinking when they decided to pair their catered soups and sandwiches with these cookies. For the record, this is not the first time they are doing this. This is the first time I am writing about it.Lets see, what does this cookie contain?Butter (loads of it), enriched flour, sugar (again, loads of it) and probably milk. I could do with some of that milk and a wee bit butter for protein. Everything else, in glorious excess is totally bad for me. And this is from Panera- one of the healthier choices for most of us.Then there is the American icon- Starbucks. For reasons only they would know, they supersize their drinks and set the stage for everyone else to follow. Why not start with an 8 oz size or better still 6 oz?. I would rather pay $2 for a 6oz. latte than $3 for a 12oz. one. Starbucks makes more money and I consume less of caffeine and sugar. Win-win right?When Mayor Bloomberg of New York went on a crusade to rid the town of large sized sugary drinks (16 oz. no less), people everywhere were indignant. How dare the Mayor tell me what I should and should not drink?. Who is he to worry about my health?. Here is my take on that- it is not a Mayor’s job to decide what is in your best interest, it is for you to do that. But if you arent making those conscious choices and it is affecting the society as a whole in being obese, it is indeed his job to do something about it. If we can let politicians tell us when to have babies, who to marry, and more importantly who not to, why should there not be atleast a conscious attempt to limit our bad choices?. No one is really going to get healthier drinking the 20 oz. drink, is he?Obesity and health issues happen because of poor choices. And there needs to be a concerted effort from the supply side (the manufacturers and restaurants) as well as the demand side (us) to change that. It will take time for people to get used to smaller portions. And it will be a significant transition for a country that loves everything supersized. But it will be an effort well worth undertaking. Not just for the present but for a future of better health for one and all. Until then, we will be a nation careening towards a very unhealthy future.