with the size of the apostles’ and Christ’s heads. Under the assumption that head sizes hadn’t increased over that time period, they then gauged the serving size increases. According to the Wasinks, entrées grew by approximately 70 percent while bread increased 23 percent. The plates got larger, too – 65 percent larger.
Though the Wasinks study is fun, there’s no real evidence that people in the developed world increased their body mass index (a measure of obesity) into unhealthy levels for almost all of that 1,000 years, says Lisa R. Young, a nutrition researcher at New York University and author of The Portion Teller, a history of portion size in the 20th century. In an article she and her NYU colleague published in the Journal of Public Health, they report that U.S. portion sizes substantially began rising in the 1970s, and sharply escalated in the 1980s, a trend that continues.
According to Young and Nestle:
With the single exception of sliced white bread, all of the commonly available food portions we measured exceeded – sometimes greatly – USDA and FDA standard portions. The largest excess over USDA standards (700 percent) occurred in the cookie category, but cooked pasta, muffins, steak and bagels exceeded USDA standards by 480 percent, 333 percent, 224 percent, and 195 percent, respectively… french fries, hamburgers, and soda… current sizes are two to five times larger than the originals.
In contrast to practices that were common just 15 to 25 years ago, food companies now use larger sizes as selling points; fast-food companies promote larger items with signs, staff pins and placemats; manufacturers of diet meals such as Lean Cuisine and Weight Watchers advertise larger meal sizes; restaurant reviews refer to large portions and national chain restaurants promote large-size items directly on menus. Restaurants are using larger dinner plates, bakers are selling larger muffin tins, pizzerias are using larger pans. Identical recipes for cookies and desserts in old and new editions of classic cookbooks such as Joy of Cooking specify fewer servings. Another indicator of the trend toward larger portions is that automobile manufacturers have installed larger cup holders in newer models to accommodate the larger sizes of drink cups.
Since the 1970s, the food service industry has grown larger, and people have been eating out more; marketing has become more concentrated. Profits for most food items rise consistently when manufacturers increase product size. From a marketing standpoint, oversized packages draw attention to a new product. Large portions often seem like a bargain: 7-Eleven’s 16-oz Gulp costs just under 5 cents/oz., but a 32-oz Big Gulp is 2.7 cents/oz. The 7-Eleven Double Gulp, a 64-oz soda, contains nearly 800 kcal – an amount 10 times the size of a Coca-Cola when it was introduced.
Notably, the sizes of chain fast-food portions in Europe are smaller than those in the United States. McDonald’s [European] “Extra Large” soda portions weigh the same as the US “Large.” In 1998- 1999, the largest order of french fries in the United States contained 610 calories, whereas the largest size in the United Kingdom contained 446 calories.
Overall ….portion sizes of virtually all foods and beverages prepared for immediate consumption have increased and now appear typical.
Hmm…. What if the solution to America’s eating disorder is simply to eat less – not eliminate – calorie-dense foods, and make nutritionally-poor/calorie-rich foods an occasional indulgence rather than the norm. Instead of crazy diet fads that lurch from one extreme to the other. Instead of relying on expensive programs sold by diet companies. Instead of buying lowcal, low-fat, low-carb pre-prepared foods that, even though they’re low-whatever, are awash with artificial ingredients and chemicals.
There’s lots of information in books and online about exactly how much is appropriate to eat of this or that. They’re useful guidelines, but for most of us, exactly measuring and weighing each morsel we consume is cumbersome and often impractical. Maybe we should just eat less – at least of those calorie dense-foods: go ahead and pig out all you want on non-starchy vegetables and fruits.
Could it possibly be that simple? Try it and see if it works for you.
The National Institute of Health has Proportion Distortion Quizzes that compare the size and calories of current servings with those of the past online at hp2010.nhlbihin.net/portion/.
Find a recipe for my grandmother’s chocolate pudding at illinoistimes.com.
Contact Julianne Glatz at [email protected].
