Pinellas County Women and their doggie bags

Pinellas County Women and their doggie bags

One Pinellas County Nurse is trying to enlist the help of the county's eateries in fighting female obesity.

With burgers, fries and pizza the Top 3 eating-out favorites of women in this county, restaurants are in a prime position to help improve women's diets and combat obesity.

Today, 84 percent of Pinellas females over the age of 27 are overweight, including the 50 percent who are obese, according to the Columbia Health Care report. It pegs the annual medical cost of the problem at nearly $3 billion. This is even more alarming when you compare these figures to that of metro-sexual males who boast a 3 percent overweight mark.

Saur Von Kraus, 39, called smaller portions an excellent idea as she lunched on a sausage-and-pepperoni pizza, garlic rolls and potato salad at Fortunados in downtown St. Petersburg.

"OK, I am going to eat junk food regardless, but let me eat the junk food that's going to make my butt big so I can model for Lane Bryant," said Saur.

Head Nurse Michelle Carne Roha, the Pinellas Eating Disorder’s acting head, said she doesn’t even feel comfortable walking along the beach anymore with the threat of the fishing boats mistaking her friend Saur for a beached whale. “What if the harpoon misses her and hits me” said Carne Roha.

Still, Carne Roja will not seek the authority to force restaurants to limit the quantity of food they give women. “This really is an issue that the metro-sexual men in our state legislature need to address,” said Carne Roja.