Are you one of the 64.5 percent of
American adults over the age of 20 who is overweight?
You could be suffering from portion distortion.
Portion sizes of common foods have
steadily increased over the last twenty years, along with the weight of
many Americans. According to a report in the February 2003 Journal of American
Dietetic Association, portion sizes offered by
fast-food restaurants today are two to five times bigger than they were
just a few years ago. Serving
sizes of ready-to-eat prepared foods like bagels, cookies and sodas are
two to eight times larger than those recommended by the United States
Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Guide Pyramid, or by the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) food labels.
Studies conducted at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found that people tend to
consume more food when they are given a larger portion or package than
when they are given the same food in a smaller package. Researchers
suspect the size of a package gives a “perceptual consumption cue” as
to what is acceptable or normal. The
more food available, the more we perceive our share to be.
It’s no wonder people are
confused about what is a serving size. A typical restaurant portion of
spaghetti is about three cups. USDA guidelines set a serving size as one
ounce - that’s about one-half of a cup of cooked pasta. The Nutrition
Facts Panel on a food label states that a serving size is one cup of
cooked pasta, or about two ounces dried.
It’s a safe bet that most people are unaware that two ounces of
dried pasta equal one cup cooked, nor do they weigh dried pasta before
cooking. If you eat the
entire portion of spaghetti from any given restaurant, you will likely
consume 1,000 calories or more, not including the salad, salad dressing,
bread and butter that most people would typically enjoy with this type of
meal.
Knowledge is Our Best Defense
Food labels can appear a little
confusing, but they provide a good deal of information on portion size.
Look closely at the serving size listed on the label. For example, if the
serving size for crackers is five, it means the nutrition information
provided on the label is based on five crackers, or one serving.
Many foods may look like a single serving (like a package of Ramen
noodles), but the food label may state that the package includes two
servings. In the case of Ramen noodles, most people eat the entire package
and end up consuming more than half a day’s worth of sodium.
Liquid calories count, too. That
20-ounce soft drink you grabbed out of the fridge this morning might
contain 2 1/2 servings. Consuming the entire bottle, as most people do,
means downing 250 calories, rather than the 100 listed on the label as the
number in a single serving. A
small cappuccino made with skim milk might contain about 100 calories, but
a large or extra-large version made with whole milk can pack 500 calories
or more. Calories are sneaky. Consuming just 200 extra calories a day can
add up to a 20 pound weight gain over a year’s time.
Don’t Clean Your Plate
Your mom may have told you to
clean your plate, but, as it turns out, that is questionable advice. Most
restaurant entrées are big enough to share with someone or save for
another meal. It’s a good idea to ask for a doggie bag and divide your
food before you start eating. If you can’t resist the temptation to
“eat the whole thing,” ask for half-sized portions, order petite cuts
of meat or get an appetizer as your entrée. At fast-food restaurants,
avoid super-sizes or so-called “extra value” meals, or order a
child’s portion instead.
Learn to eyeball a serving size.
At home, measure out the foods you eat most often to see what a serving
looks like on your plate. This will give you a better idea of what a
reasonable portion looks like when you don’t have a food scale or a
measuring cup. Since it is
not practical to weigh or measure all the foods we eat away from home,
here are some guidelines to help you better recognize appropriate portion
sizes: