"Fourth Meal" One Too Many

By: Lindsey Kupfer

Posted: 6/11/09

First off, seriously? Our country is already known as the fat people country. Is it completely necessary that we have a name for the midnight snack? Congratulations Taco Bell for how many overweight people you're about to create.

At about 11:30 p.m. last week I drove to Taco Bell for that new grilled chicken burrito because they made it look so good in the commercial and I saw the sign that advertised for the fourth meal and almost felt compelled to turn around and leave so I didn't feel like I was gaining weight just by sitting in the drive-thru line.

I'm all for breaking the rule "no carbs after 7 p.m.," but why make it a national meal so more people can become obese? If this fad of a fourth meal catches on, the next generation is probably screwed. They are going to just keep eating until a fifth meal is created, and if McDonalds is the creator of the fifth meal then there is no hope.

I don't want to be considered a hypocrite because more often than not I'm in the drive-thru at one in the morning with every other drunk person at ASU waiting for that midnight snack: I just really don't want to call it a meal. I think - and let me know if I'm wrong - that calling it the fourth meal hits your self-esteem a little harder than the idea of it simply being a "snack," but I could just be in denial.

In 2007, 25 percent of people living in Arizona were considered obese. I also read statistics that 2/3 of adults in America are overweight and 1/3 of those are obese. This means that the fourth meal should not exist and we shouldn't refer to it as a real term.