Expanding Portion Sizes Contribute to Expanding Waistlines

The incidence of overweight and obesity among American children and adults is continuing to rise. Weight gain is like a bad math equation; on one side too many calories in, and on the other side too few calories out. This creates an unbalanced equation, which equals weight gain.

Although there are many contributors to America’s expanding waistline, researchers are examining large portion sizes being served both at restaurants and at home as a contributing factor. In fact, some restaurant portion sizes have increased as much as 200-800% since just a few decades ago! Why the large increase? The US food supply now produces 500 more calories per day per person than in the 1970’s. This creates a large surplus of food. To sum it up, food is cheap so restaurants have the ability to entice the American consumer by serving up “super-sized” portions. The consumer thinks they are getting ‘a deal’ by purchasing this large meal for a just a small price. However, large portions only encourage people to eat more, further contributing to weight gain – not such ‘a deal’.

The good news, however, is that there is something you can do about expanding portion sizes! First of all, here are some general tips on how to decrease portion sizes when dining out:

	Divide your large portion of food in half before you begin eating. This will help you avoid overeating.
	Take your leftovers home. Sometimes you can get two or even three meals out of just one. Now that’s a deal!
	No matter the size of your meal, try to make it last for at least 20 minutes. Research has shown that it takes 20 minutes for the message to get to your brain that you are full. Making your meal last for at least 20 minutes will help you avoid feelings of being overstuffed, like after a Thanksgiving meal.