Larger Appetites or Larger Portions?
According to new research, Americans are consuming much larger portions of sodas, french fries, chips and burgers than they did twenty years ago.
For many years, dietitians as well as consumers have noticed that restaurants are serving much larger portions of food, but recently studies have examined just how much more Americans are actually eating both inside and outside of the home.
These reports may force us to take a closer look at one of the reasons why America is facing an epidemic of obesity in not only adults, but more and more children are becoming dangerously overweight as well.
Adult obesity has increased from 14.5% in 1971 to 31% in 1999, and in 2002, studies report that 15% of American kids are overweight!
According to the Journal of American Medicine published in January of this year, the average portion of:
- Salty snacks (potato chips, crackers, pretzels) increased from 1 to 1.6 ounces, which equals an extra 93 kcal
- Soft drinks increased from 13.1 to 19.9 fluid ounces, up 49 kcal
- Hamburgers increased from 5.7 to 7.0 ounces, up 97 kcal
- French fries increased from 3.1 to 3.6 ounces, up 68 kcal
- Mexican food (burritos, tacos, enchiladas) increased from 6.3 to 8.0 ounces, up 133 kcal
- Pizza actually went down in portions from 1991, so it is consistent with the 1977 portion
What is even more alarming…is that portions are probably even larger than what was reported in this study because this data was last collected in 1998, and people usually under-report their energy intake.
According to the January issue of the Journal of American Dietetic Association:
- 107 foods were analyzed, and one-third of the foods consumed were larger portions (including cookies, chips, bread, cereal, wine, and fruit juice)
- The average amount of beer consumed went from 23 to 32 ounces, increasing by 100 kcal
In this month of the Journal of American Dietetic Association, the recipes of classic cookbooks are analyzed. Did you realize that the Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from 1949 yielded 100 cookies, and today the same recipe yields 60 cookies!
It does appear that when we are presented with larger portions, we will eat them! As you can see, the size increase is substantial. Since an added 10 kcal per day of unexpended energy is equivalent to an extra pound of weight per year, it is easy to see the potential impact of larger portion sizes. So my advice is to serve smaller portions of food at home, ask for reduced portions when dining out and stop super-sizing your sodas and French fries
References:
1. Hellmich, Nancy. Larger Portions bring larger appetites. USA Today. January 23, 2003.
2. Nielsen SJ, Popkin BM. Patterns and Trends in Food Portion Sizes, 1977-1998. JAMA. 2003;289:450-453.
3. Wright H., Mitchell DC. Foods commonly eaten in the United States 1989-1991 and 1994-1996: Are portion sizes changing? Journal of American Dietetic Association. 2003;103: 41-47.