Having studied increasing portion sizes and its relationship to the US obesity epidemic, I was intrigued by the recent findings on fast food portions by researchers from Boston University and Tufts and published this op-ed in the NY Daily News: “Regular-size yourself: Portion sizes keep growing; consumers must fight back.”
You can also read it below.
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New research from Boston University and Tufts found that fast-food portions continue to expand despite pleas to the industry to sell meals in more reasonable portions.
The problem isn’t just that portions have ballooned in size, contributing to obesity and other health issues, but that we as consumers have been conditioned to think these oversized meals are normal. In fact, if given what nutritionists would consider a realistic portion, many people balk.
Waistlines have grown as well. Obesity rates have soared over the last 50 years, increasing from 13-40% since the early 1960s.
McDonald’s is not the only culprit. Pick a chain, almost any chain, and the story is the same.
Fast food has worked hard to introduce healthy meals, but most sound healthier than they are. And many, as the Boston University and Tufts researchers documented, are packed with sodium. While some meals might be healthy, many use marketing descriptors that deceive us — all of which leads us to think it’s okay to eat more.
To break the conditioning, we can’t wait for corporations to tell us how much food is enough. As consumers, we need to take matters into our own hands by understanding what realistic portion sizes look like.
Successful dieters are mindful when eating and pay attention to the portions on their plate. Interestingly, most of them eat the bulk of their meals at home and with family, not at fast-food restaurants.
Until that happens, we can all just eat a little bit less.
Young is an adjunct professor of nutrition at New York University.
How I help clients manage portion sizes