I’ve already talked about this a few months ago, but I will keep talking about this for a long time to come since we’re headed for a long recession.

If you missed my last post on the topic of the recession diet, you can catch it here: Recession diet: There might be a recession, but McDonald’s profits keep rising!!!

I think very few of us have not changed our eating habits since the beginning of this economical land slide.

It might be little things like skipping the daily $4 Starbucks coffee, bringing your lunch to work, eating less red meat (which is more expensive than chicken), not eating out at much, buying fewer organic products (I know I’ve cut back), cooking more at home or watching weekly flyers for savings on your grocery bill.

 I know that I’ve made some changes and I suspect that I’ll make even more changes as the price of food continues to go up each week.

That said, I can still pretty much buy anything I want to eat and I don’t have to limit myself to certain foods or certain sections of the grocery market (like the frozen food section).

That’s just not the case for a lot of people who have families to feed on a small budget and they are forced to buy what they can afford and that often means fast foods, frozen foods on sale (I’ve seen frozen foods on sale for $1 each) and processed foods.

This problem seems to be affecting Americans quite directly. According to a recent research from Gallup-Healthways, it seems that a number of Americans are getting increasingly fatter. The number of Americans considered obese has climbed by 1.7 per cent. You might think an extra 1.7 per cent of the U.S. population getting fatter might not be a big deal, but if I told you that that percentage represents a staggering 5.5 million EXTRA people who have a body mass index of over 30 (basically clinically putting them in the obese category), would you react differently?

People are getting fatter and their children are also getting fatter because there is less money to put food on the table and they often have to opt for lower quality foods and forfeit healthier food options.

It’s a known fact that you can get a fast food meal for $5. You’ll NEVER-EVER-EVER be able to buy a complete healthy meal for $5 and that means less people will be eating foods that sustains their bodies’ optimal health. The flip side is that more Americans are eating foods that are making them fatter and sicker.

These tough times have also meant a decrease in gym memberships. A lot of people aren’t able to keep up with the monthly payment and a workout with a personal trainer is once again seen as a luxury.

You might think this problem affects only those who have been laid off, but people who did keep their jobs are worried about unexpected changes and they are putting in extra hours at work to seem valuable to the company and that means a lot of people are leaving work washed out … and fitness or preparing a healthy meal are the last thing on their minds.

Don’t kid yourself, this recession will have a huge bearing on people’s weight because a lot of people will be force to choose foods that fills them … not necessarily foods that nourish them.

Now, I surely don’t want to sound like I’m judging anyone because at the end of the day we all need to do what he need to do to survive, but my concern is that we’ll come out of this recession with higher levels of obesity than ever before.

Report show that McDonald’s has seen profits rise by 80 per cent last year while most industries have seen their profits dwindle into nothingness and many companies have had to shut their businesses. Most restaurants are suffering from the signs of a population that no longer has the disposable income it once had and now many restaurants are suffering while McDonald’s finds itself with fatter pockets than ever before.

Can you believe that the average number of McDonald’s customers served per day increased to more than 58 million in 2008? That’s 58 million people every single day eating at McDonald’s restaurants!!!!

I’m not a fast-food eater at all so this is all quite strange to me, but at the same time I do understand the choices some people have to make. I’m still quite concerned about how this recession will treat the health of countless low-income families and white-collar workers who find themselves faced with a level of unparalleled debt.

I always make an effort on Eat Smart Age Smart to find healthy recipes that are cost-effective to share with you so you have an alternative to fast-food restaurants.

I’d love to hear from you and find out what you think of McDonald’s rising 2008 profits?

>>>> Here’s the video from BBC explaining why so many Americans are turning more and more to McDonald’s for their meals during this recession: The US ‘recession diet’

Photo by Leonid Mamchenkov