Portion Size, Then and Now

Over the past few decades, portion sizes of everything from muffins to sandwiches have grown considerably. Unfortunately, America’s waistbands have reacted accordingly. In the 1970s, around 47 percent of Americans were overweight or obese; now 66 percent of us are. In addition, the number of just obese people has doubled, from 15 percent of our population to 30 percent.

While increased sizes haven’t been the sole contributor to our obesity epidemic, large quantities of cheap food have distorted our perceptions of what a typical meal is supposed to look like. These portion comparisons, adapted from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s (NHLBI) Portion Distortion Quiz, give a visual representation of what sizes used to be compared to what they are today.

Two Slices of Pizza

Twenty years ago Today
500 calories 850 calories

Those extra 350 calories, if eaten a two times a month, would put on two extra pounds a year, or forty pounds in the next two decades.

Cup of Coffee

Twenty years ago                                                   Today
Coffee with milk and sugar                                       Grande café mocha with whip, 2% milk
8 ounces                                                                 16 ounces
45 calories                                                              330 calories

When our parents ordered a coffee two decades ago, they weren’t given as many size options—a standard cup of joe was eight ounces, the size of a small coffee cup. Nowadays, most of us feel like we don’t get our money’s worth unless the cup is at least twelve ounces; it’s not unusual to see thirty-two ounce coffee cups, four times the size they used to be. When made into a mocha, the morning coffee has as many calories as a full meal.

Movie Popcorn

Twenty Years Ago                                         Today
5 cups                                                           Tub
270 calories                                                   630 calories

We don’t have to eat those extra 360 calories in the tub of popcorn, but that’s easier said than (not) done. Studies indicate that when given food in larger containers, people will consume more. In a 1996 Cornell University study, people in a movie theater ate from either medium (120g) or large (240g) buckets of popcorn, then divided into two groups based on whether they liked the taste of the popcorn. The results: people with the large size ate more than those with the medium size, regardless of how participants rated the taste of the popcorn.

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Comments

This is a good article; it will get people's gears turning. I count calories, and as ridiculous as, say, half a bagel sounds, it is quite filling when you pair it with healthier foods. The common misconception regarding calories is that x number of calories will take x number of minutes of aerobic activity to burn off. People are forgetting that we burn calories just by sitting around doing nothing. You won't need to burn it off if you stay within the range of naturally burned calories every day. So if you burn off 2000 calories a day, you can consume 2000 calories without gaining weight. This number is determined by a number of factors (e.g. activity level, BMI, metabolic rate), and a nutritionist can give you the information. Of course, being healthy isn't just about calories or amount of food, but that's for another article. :)

Yesterday on a walk to the beach, I saw a teenage girl with a mug of soda that was literally as big as my head. The excess in this country has reached such proportions that's it's no longer funny.

Re: the 8 oz coke. From the 50s and well into the 80s, the small bottle was 6 1/2 oz. (i.e., even smaller): http://www.eriessen.dds.nl/bottle_evolution.htm

Oh, and I disagree with some peoples' impressions that it's all "us". If advertisers and marketers didn't know how to get us to eat more and more of the products they are selling, then why would they spend millions marketing these foods to us?

"That's why these [influences] have such power. Almost all of us think we know what we like. We believe we're too smart to be tricked by something so silly, and that's where we really, really, really get tripped up. Because we say: "Hey, come on. Look. I'm a smart guy and no little trick is going to throw me off balance." That's the real power of these habits, and that's what makes them so ubiquitous. We deny that they ever happened to us." -Brian Wansink, author of "Mindless Eating: why we eat more than we think"

Yesterday on a walk to the beach, I saw a teenage girl with a mug of soda that was literally as big as my head. The excess in this country has reached such proportions that's it's no longer funny.

Re: the 8 oz coke. From the 50s and well into the 80s, the small bottle was 6 1/2 oz. (i.e., even smaller): http://www.eriessen.dds.nl/bottle_evolution.htm

Thank you very much for your article. I was disappointed that your readers who commented failed to see the hidden calories. I find myself reading labels. I notice how they will say 10 potato chips are 100 calories. When you do the math it is 1650 calories in the package or another 1/2 pound of potential weight. A soda is 240 pounds or one a day is 24 pounds in a year. The really sad thing is that if apspertame looks like, tastes like, and feels like sugar it sometimes fools the body into thinking it is sugar and bingo the insulin is released and the weight goes on. Sort of Pavlov's dogs. A candy bar is 240 calories or 24 pounds a year later and in 60 seconds you have eaten what will take 2-1/2 miles of walking to burn off. At the theater you are not counting calories but are distracted by the movie. Christmas is a disaster with cakes, cookies, snacks and temptations. Food manufacturers have learned how to pervert our taste buds to fool us into consuming more food.

This is one of the stupidest articles I've ever read. PEOPLE are responsible for what they eat - not the food industry, not the size of the serving - PEOPLE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEMSELVES! Nobody is forcing anyone to eat too much. I think you ought to be worrying about the most dangerous thing in this country: poverty. THAT's a problem that affects us all.

Stephanie, I don't know where you heard that fruits had 40 times as many minerals 50 years ago, but that really beggars belief. That's a HUGE difference and I don't believe you were given accurate information there.

Good article. Only problem though is the examples given are not food. May I suggest to those concerned about their weight or health to read some good books on general nutrition. Real food doesn't cause weight or health problems.

This is very misleading. All the small portions of "Twenty" years ago are still available today, and all the large portions of "Today" were available twenty years ago. The difference is that more people are consistently ordering the large portions on a regular basis. And some of the large portions today are smaller than twenty years ago, just order a "large" pizza from a delivery chain to see for yourself. Last time I did, I thought they messed up and gave me a small pizza. Also nobody is forcing people to order the large portions. Though, I usually do, I almost always take half of it home for another meal.

What they also don’t mention is the increased proportions leads to more waste as well. SO we are putting more waste on ourselves and the earth!

Your second comparison is waaayyyyy off. What you used today isn't a cup of coffee – it's an espresso beverage. The huge difference being the large amount of milk in the drink in comparison to say a cup of coffee (even with cream). There are 2.5 ounces of espresso in that drink (2 shots of espresso), versus the 14 or so ounces of milk. When you compare two things that aren't in the same category, yes they will be completely different. A cup of coffee today with milk and sugar is the same as it was twenty years ago, albeit with some growth hormones and antibiotics.

This is a very cool article. Thanks! I know that 50 years ago fruits and vegetables had from 10 to 40 times as many vitamins and minerals as they do now. And that was for fresh unprocessed food. Many of the foods pictured in this article have little nutrition. (i.e. popcorn, soda) I believe one reason people are eating more is that their bodies are starved for nutrition.

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