Kerfuffle, you're right about portions in the US. I noticed this on a recent trip to Disney World. I couldn't believe the portions "for one." We're a family of 4 (with a 5yr old and a 2yr old, neither of whom eat much admittedly) and, because I obviusly think about food differently from other Americans, I would order a meal "for one" and we'd share it among the four of us, and feel perfectly satisfied.
I thought this movie was fascinating. What I loved was how it showed the huge gulf between New Yorkers and "the rest of" America. New Yorkers are rarely overweight, though obesity is admittedly highter among lower income groups here, andit's truewe walk constantly, and that makes a difference.
I'm not sure I buy the notion that eating crappy food is cheaper than eating well. I just caught up with a friend here who is actually quite poor, lives very much hand to mouth. She's about 8 and a half stone, like me, and eats very simply, very cheaplyand it's not a diet that contains fast food, which she might well view as a luxury. Eating fast food constantly has more to do with education and expectation, I think. It's about what you're used to, and it's about a refusal to change habitsand who can't relate to that?
I let my kids eat at McDonalds from time to time, by the way. My strategy is that if they just want to eat 1 or 2 of their chicken nuggets or just 4 of their french fries, I let them and never argue with them to eat more, explaining to them that the food is rubbish so it doesn't matter if they eat more or less. Then I eat their leftovers, so I don't have to spend money/absorb the calories of a proper adult meal "for one."