[decode]

I prefer this version, since it lists each item in the pictures, as well as breaking down the expenditures by category:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5005952

Some interesting bits:

The German family spends more on vitamins than any other category. The family from Chad gets $24.37 worth of free rations from relief organizations. Almost half of the Americans' expenditures are on Fast Food and Beverages.

[eru]

Those crazy Germans with their vitamin pills. They should just drive over to the Netherlands once a year, and buy their drugs there. It's way cheaper than in Germany.

Also all the bottled water is just crazy. German tap water is excellent in quality in all areas, and I like the taste in most areas I sampled. And never ever drink the Flensburger malt beer (unless you find a version that uses actual sugar and not sweetener).

The frozen pizza from Dr Oedtker is quite good. But for most other stuff, they could as well have bought it at Aldi for cheaper, instead of going for the higher priced branded items.

I guess I should stop ranting.

[starkfist]

It looks like the bottled water is soda water. I am also a sucker for fizzy water.

[sedachv]

They also consume a ridiculous amount of bread (+pasta), dairy and sugary beverages. And probably then wonder why they get fat.

[jules]

First, they aren't fat.

Second, how can you judge this without knowing how much calories they burn?

[sedachv]

Ignore the kids, look at the adults. They're not morbidly obese, but they are carrying excess fat. Without a change in diet, or adopting the training regime of a competitive athlete (do you know how many calories you need to burn every day to stay lean on that kind of diet?), this is likely to trend to obesity as they age.

[jules]

I am not criticizing their diet. Look at their picture:

http://img.timeinc.net/time/photoessays/2007/hungry_planet/1...

These people are NOT obese. They are not super lean either, but for their age this looks like a perfectly healthy weight. In fact they are relatively lean compared to the other families.

[sedachv]

Look at photographs of people 60, 80, 100 years ago. The relative perception of obesity in the US is extremely distorted. The average male is 5 feet 9 inches (176cm) and 195 pounds (88 kilograms). That is overweight. The adults in the photo are also overweight.

[d_c]

They don't look that fat :)

[whyenot]

the American, Italian and Mexican families appear to consume equal or greater amounts.

[sedachv]

Which is why it's no surprise that the Mexican family is also overweight.

But actually look at the photos of the American and Italian families. The Italians have almost half the food the Germans have, a small fraction of sugar drinks, and very little dairy. They also have one more child in the family. Which is why they look fit.