How to lower obesity, fatten wallet, at Chinese buffets
Filed under: Bargains, Food, Health, Insurance - Health Insurance
The costs of obesity are enormous, and not just in health care costs, such as increasing medication expenses 77% for someone who is obese.Along with emotional and social effects, obesity can affect your wallet. Obese men and women earn, on average, $7,093, or about 25% less than their peers.
One American passion commonly blamed for obesity are the all-you-can-eat Chinese buffets, or any type of buffet that lets customers eat as much as they want. Sure, they can be cheap and save you money on dining, but in the long-term, overeating at such places can be hazardous to your physical and financial health.
Two researchers recently studied eating behaviors at all-you-can-eat Chinese buffets, and found methods that skinnier people use, such as using chopsticks, and habits of heavier people, such as sitting facing the buffet.
The conclusion by researchers Brian Wansink and Collin Payne that "small changes in one's environment may lessen one's tendency to overeat."
Their work found correlations between high body mass index, or BMI, and behaviors at the buffets.
Here are some of the things they found that any buffet eater may want to keep in mind at their next visit:
- Sit in a booth. Low BMI patrons were more likely to sit at a booth, versus a table. Booth seating makes it more difficult to return to the buffet because eating companions may need to move or heavier patrons may not comfortably fit in a booth.
- Don't sit facing the buffet. More high BMI patrons faced the buffet while eating than low BMI patrons. If you're sitting with your side or back to the buffet line, the tempting food won't be at the top of your mind.
- Browse first. Most low BMI patrons browsed the buffet instead of immediately serving themselves.
- Use small plates. This comes as no surprise, but high BMI patrons were more likely to use larger plates.
- Use chopsticks. The lighter customers used chopsticks to eat with more often. Apparently a fork is like a shovel in a buffet line.
- Keep a napkin on your lap. Lower BMI patrons put a napkin on their lap
- Don't feel you have to clean your plate. I know your grandmother probably told you to always clean your plate, but this study found that the low BMI patrons left more on their plates than others.
- Chew your food well. Low BMI patrons chewed bites of food more than others, at 14.8 chews per bite.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-28-2009 @ 6:46PM
Pam said...
One thing I do when I go to Chinese buffets is stick to the seafood; peel & eat shrimp, raw clams & oysters, baked salmon, etc. I avoid the noodles, the fried rice, the breaded & deep-fried things, and the heavy sauces. I love the sauteed mushroom caps, too. If they have steamed clams I will eat some of those, dipped in butter. I usually don't bother with snow crab legs because they are a lot of work for a small amount of crab. I leave full, and most of what I have eaten is protein, and low-calorie. (OK, I do eat a dessert!)
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8-31-2009 @ 8:08AM
Jen said...
I used to eat at a place like that as a poor college student. You can actually order your meal to go and fill a box. I filled my box (and drink cup) with steamed rice, veggies and tofu. It was enough for about 4 meals and only cost $5. Stick to a vegan diet and you'll never have to worry about being fat.
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8-30-2009 @ 2:30AM
Mike said...
The habits of "low bmi" patrons and "high bmi" patrons differ for a reason other than obesity, as does the income disparity.
It should be pointed out that the disparity in income should be drastically less related to obesity than it is to food availability or the socio-economic status of an individual. The poorer by default are more likely to be obese, due to 1) lower food budget, forcing a higher quantity of simple carb foods like breads, sweetened and preserved junk foods, cheap pastas, potatoes and 2) the poorer in America for example have a different culture when it comes to food, subsisting largely on fast food and comfort foods.
Social status also tremendously affects the study. Obese people, due to more typical lower income or even poverty, are often of a lower social standing and a resultant effect of low social standing comes less understanding of etiquette. For example, the significances of browsing food first, broadening one's cultural bounds by learning to use chopsticks, using a smaller plate and avoiding food pileups, keeping a napkin in one's lap, or chewing more and longer are more likely to be alien or unnecessary for them.
Oh, and sitting in a booth? Unfortunately by the time the obese are, well, obese, you think maybe they prefer to sit in chairs because...they are more comfortable and actually fit in chairs. You don't go swimming fully clothed, do you? Well, you can right? Well, imagine being obese and trying to squeeze into a booth is like trying to go swimming clothed. Except it takes you a year of hard work, diet, luck, and effort to put on a bathing suit.
This article is so naive-minded when it comes to describing the results of the study - sure, there are correlations, but the correlations mean absolutely nothing without further dissection, under which you would find my above statements to be much more reflective of the truth.
Trust me, the solution to losing weight isn't to teach proper eating etiquette and expose people to chopsticks (which, by the way, are more difficult for the obese to use. See swimsuit reference for insight). In fact, I find the results of this study to be pompous and far overreaching.
"Let them eat cake!" she said.
And we all know what came of that.
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9-03-2009 @ 9:21AM
Angel said...
I definately agree with you about the economic level and obesity. I once had a skinny, ligher income person ask why lower income people tend to be fat. I tried to explain about the fact that it is the healthier foods that are cheaper and more filling. She just couldn't understand it. She also went to the gym after work.
Lower income people can find better habits, but it is much harder to start. Once it is put on, it is hard to take off. Tips are great, but they must turn into habits. We must first be able to fit in the booth before we can use that trick. When we go to a buffet when on a low income, it is like putting anyone in a hidden treasure vault. Naturally we will go for all of those things we feel deprived of in everyday life.
The article was good for continuing to improve our habits, but a habit- good or bad- is an action that must be repeated enough to make it a habit.
8-30-2009 @ 3:26AM
Anonymous said...
As an obese person who loves chinese food... almost nothing said in this article is true... in fact... pretty much everything is the exact opposite. It makes me wonder where the 'writer' who created this got their facts.
I am grade 3 obese. Meaning, I'm 6' almost 300lbs. Not oompa loompa round... but I'm a stocky biker looking guy. I'm not a bariatric, and I can weigh myself on normal home scales, but level 3 obese, is level 3.
1. Booths are more comfortable for fat people. Chairs cut into our fat legs, offer less privacy to avoid stares, and offer less back support.
2. Facing the buffet? Who cares, I'm focused on the food in front of me... who needs that distraction and smells of the buffet, or the traffic? I'll sit across the restaurant and go back for more.
3. Browse first? I'd be delighted! I LOVE food. I'm a fat man. OF COURSE I'm going to browse how else am I going to find all the varied items I am going to put on my
4. small dishes? I prefer variety, which means I'm going to get a lot of different items. Small dishes are perfect for the combinations of flavor I am going to put on my tray.
5. How many people do you know who own a personal set of stainless steel chopsticks? Yeah, well I do.
6. Of course I'm going to put a napkin in my lap, I'm fat, I'm not an animal...
7. If I'm already poor, why the hell wouldn't I clean my plate? If I'm paying for it, I should eat it. It's not nice to waste food - you should think about people starving in africa you terrible person. If you aren't going to eat it, don't put it on your plate in the first place, it's a damn buffet, you can go back for more.
8. Again, chewing food... another OBVIOUS thing to do. 1 You are going to savor the flavor of the food more, and 2. CHOKING is an incredibly common cause of death, and some fat people can have a harder time swallowing. Chewing well is always a good idea.
So... to sum up, almost nothing said in this article was correct... oh... and poor people get fat because they eat cheap food that makes them fat, not the other way around.
If you are poor, are you going to buy 2lbs of beef for $3-5 or 2lb of spinach for $20-25...?
Do the math. http://www.hulu.com/futureoffood Get some facts.
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8-30-2009 @ 9:38AM
slinkyvomo said...
The problem is I have never seen a Chinese buffet I actually like!
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8-30-2009 @ 10:48AM
Jason said...
The fact is, anyone open to listen to these behavior traits and follow them are already the 'converted' - these behaviors point to a much broader understanding of self, which obese people with a different understanding of self do not understand nor follow. Basically, just by listing the behaviors of others does nothing to change anyone.
An example - putting a napkin on your lap does not keep you fit. But someone who is healthier has more respect for their appearance, more respect for their bodies, and more interest in the world around them. Therefore, they chose healthier options, and the grand schema is that they put a napkin on their lap. It's an indication of a healthy understanding of one's self, not exactly an indication of unlocking some secret to eating at a chinese buffet.
So the question is, what can we do to change the understanding of 'self' to someone who is obese?
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8-31-2009 @ 10:05AM
DC said...
This article is like trying to explain how to smoke a cigarette in a less deadly manner. Please...
As Americans, we need to begin to refine the way that we think about food and dining out. Instead of writing articles on ways to become less fat at a buffet, how about articles on why we should NOT EAT AT BUFFETS! We are not cattle in a feed yard and should not eat/be fed like them.
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