Portion sizes larger today than 20 years ago

Reuters reported on September 1, 2006 on a study in the September, 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, that self selected portion sizes of food have grown in the United States over the last 20 years. The researchers attribute this to the size of packaging in the food industry. For example, 12 oz beverage serving has increased to 20 oz. or in some cases 24 oz. With beverages like orange juice and sugared soda this is a huge increase in calories and carbohydrate.

Portion sizes young adults serve themselves have swelled significantly over the past 20 years, a new study shows.

Portion sizes of ready-to-serve foods and restaurant servings have grown over the past two decades, Jaime Schwartz of Portable Nutrition in New York City and Dr. Caron Byrd-Bredbenner of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey note in their report.

Many believe this has helped to contribute to the current obesity epidemic.

To investigate whether there's been a similar increase in the amount of food people will serve themselves, the researchers observed a group of 177 young adults serving themselves breakfast, lunch or dinner. The researchers modeled their study on similar research published in 1984.

I also have noticed that many fast food restaurants no longer offer a "small" but their previous "medium" size has now become their "small". No wonder Americans are becoming increasingly more obese and Type II diabetes is on the rise.

Link: MedlinePlus: Portion sizes larger today than 20 years ago.

Comments

[Colon Cleanse Geek]

Fast food restaurants have also made a drastic menu change over the years. They are offering salads, whole wheat products, grilled meats and vegetarian items. With so many choices out there we can also make a step in the right direction to healthy eating:-))