And so, you can blame your mother for the obesity in the world. Why? According to the AP, portion sizes have grown over the last 20 years. Specifically, a study at Rutgers University supports earlier research that people today eat bigger servings than they did 20 years ago. The research, done in 2003 and described in a recent issue of the American Dietetic Association, replicated a 1984 Penn State University study. Both studies asked students to take food portions of various items. Diners were offered three sizes of plates, bowls and cups in a buffet-like setting. There were 177 students in the more recent study at Rutgers and 147 students in the 1984 Penn State study. In a comparison of breakfast servings, the students in 2003 took 20 percent more cornflakes than students took in 1984, Schwartz said. Ditto for milk. The glass of orange juice grew by more than 40 percent compared to 20 years ago. That translates into 50 additional calories, or a weight gain of five pounds over the course of a year, if consumed on a daily basis. Dinner and lunch servings grew, too – 50 percent more fruit salad wound up on the plates of the Rutgers students.
So, we were taught to clean our plates. What was on our plates grew. Therefore, we grew. Seems like simple math to me.
Even worse: the plates themselves grew. A 1994 informal survey found that the standard plate size in the restaurant industry grew in the early 1990s, from 10 inches to 12. So the plates are bigger, and thus we need more food on them to make them seem full, so we think we’re getting our monies worth.
I, for one, would be glad if restaurants used 10″ plates, lowered the portion size and lowered the prices. Be much better for everyone. Will it happen? I doubt it.