Study links potatoes, among other foods, to weight gain

From about.com -

"Answer: A small baked potato, about two inches in diameter has about 130 calories. A medium baked potato, about two and one-half to three inches in diameter has about 160 calories. A large baked potato, about three and one-half to four inches in diameter can have about 275 calories.
These calorie counts are for plain baked potatoes with no toppings. Sour cream, butter, cheese, or anything else might add several hundred more calories to your baked potato."

I haven't eaten a baked potato that is 3.5 to 4" wide since the sixties in the years we went once in a while to restaurants like Lawry's.

It should come as no great shock to anyone that - OMG! - potatoes have calories.

But they are not empty calories, devoid of nutritional value.
http://www.sparkpeople.com/calories-in.asp?food=baked+potato+with+skin

Per SparkPeople, (look to the right on that page; there is a popup but the URL is hard to pass because of their coding)

Baked Potato With Skin (large 3 1/2 By 4 1/2 Dia) (1 serving)
calories: 278, fat: 0g, carbs: 63g, protein: 8g

Nutrition Facts

Calories in Baked Potato With Skin (large 3 1/2 By 4 1/2 Dia)
Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 278.0
Total Fat 0.0 g
Saturated Fat 0.0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 30.0 mg
Potassium 1,600.0 mg
Total Carbohydrate 63.0 g
Dietary Fiber 7.0 g (lots of w/w breads have 3 g)
Sugars 4.0 g
Protein 8.0 g

There's nothing wrong with eating potatoes, just don't eat them exclusively, watch how they're processed, keep the skin on and watch overall calories.

I'll add the info from the wikipedia link I gave earlier - I find the business about the resistant starch interesting.

The potato contains vitamins and minerals, as well as an assortment of phytochemicals, such as carotenoids and natural phenols. Chlorogenic acid constitutes up to 90% of the potato tuber natural phenols. Others found in potatoes are 4-O-caffeoylquinic (crypto-chlorogenic acid), 5-O-caffeoylquinic (neo-chlorogenic acid), 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic and 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acids.[56] A medium-size 150 g (5.3 oz) potato with the skin provides 27 mg of vitamin C (45% of the Daily Value (DV)), 620 mg of potassium (18% of DV), 0.2 mg vitamin B6 (10% of DV) and trace amounts of thiamin, riboflavin, folate, niacin, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, and zinc. The fiber content of a potato with skin (2 g) is equivalent to that of many whole grain breads, pastas, and cereals.
In terms of nutrition, the potato is best known for its carbohydrate content (approximately 26 grams in a medium potato). The predominant form of this carbohydrate is starch. A small but significant portion of this starch is resistant to digestion by enzymes in the stomach and small intestine, and so reaches the large intestine essentially intact. This resistant starch is considered to have similar physiological effects and health benefits as fiber: It provides bulk, offers protection against colon cancer, improves glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, lowers plasma cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations, increases satiety, and possibly even reduces fat storage.[57][58][59] The amount of resistant starch in potatoes depends much on preparation methods. Cooking and then cooling potatoes significantly increases resistant starch. For example, cooked potato starch contains about 7% resistant starch, which increases to about 13% upon cooling.[60]
The nutrients of the potato seem to be fairly evenly distributed between the flesh and the skin. For a medium potato, with and without the skin, nutritiondata.com gives the following:[61][62]

Nutrient Without skin (156 g) (% RDA) With skin (173 g) (% RDA)
Vitamin C 33 28
Thiamin 11 7
Niacin 11 12
Vitamin B6 23 27
Folate 4 12
Pantothenic Acid 9 7
Iron 3 10
Magnesium 10 12
Potassium 17 26
Copper 17 10
Dietary Fiber 9 15

The cooking method used can significantly impact the nutrient availability of the potato.
Potatoes are often broadly classified as high on the glycemic index (GI) and so are often excluded from the diets of individuals trying to follow a low-GI diet. In fact, the GI of potatoes can vary considerably depending on type (such as red, russet, white, or Prince Edward), origin (where it was grown), preparation methods (i.e., cooking method, whether it is eaten hot or cold, whether it is mashed or cubed or consumed whole, etc.), and with what it is consumed (i.e., the addition of various high-fat or high-protein toppings).[63]
Potatoes are not considered by the NHS as counting towards the five portions of fruit and vegetables diet.[64]

Here's the latest on government research into food products:

SCIENCE: BREAD IS DANGEROUS

1. More than 98 percent of convicted felons are bread users.

2. Fully HALF of all children who grow up in bread-consuming households score below average on standardized tests.

3. In the 18th century, when virtually all bread was baked in the home, the average life expectancy was less than 50 years; infant mortality rates were unacceptably high; many women died in childbirth; and diseases such as typhoid, yellow fever, and influenza ravaged whole nations.

4. More than 90 percent of violent crimes are committed within 24 hours of eating bread.

5. Bread has been proven to be addictive. Subjects deprived of bread and given only water to eat, begged for bread after as little as two days.

6. Bread is often a "gateway" food item, leading the user to "harder" items such as butter, jelly, peanut butter, and even cream cheese.

7. Bread has been proven to absorb water. Since the human body is more than 90 percent water, it follows that eating bread could lead to your body being taken over by this absorptive food product, turning you into a soggy, gooey, bread-pudding person.

8. Newborn babies can choke on bread.

9. Bread is baked at temperatures as high as 450 degrees Fahrenheit! That kind of heat can kill an adult in less than two minutes.

10. Most American bread eaters are utterly unable to distinguish between significant scientific fact and meaningless blather.

Cool.

If you eat potatoes with the skin on and don't aid butter, oil, and so on it is BY FAR better for you than pasta or other overly processed base foods like white rice. That said when you don't over-process foods and receive a food closer to its natural form, then it becomes by far healthier. Imo, always eat the potato with the skin on for meals. It fills you up, a medium (size of your fist) is 100 calories, and it is NOT junk as this crap study tells you it is. If you can tolerate the sweeter variety, sweet potatoes are even BETTER for you.

Anyways, if I ate french fries every day of course I'd get fat at the end of the year. It's like... DUH!

I love sweet potatoes - cut like fries, made crunchy and sweet