The Growth of American Food Portions

http://www.visualnews.com/2012/01/25/the-growth-of-american-food-portions/

It’s no secret that waistlines and food portions have been ballooning across America, the land of the free and home of the artery clogging super-sized value menu. The last few decades have seen a massive shift in the thinking of American consumers, restaurants, fast-food chains and food manufacturers. The emphasis has changed into giving the consumer more food for less money; hasn’t anyone noticed that a small soda has turned into a medium, a medium into a large, and so on? This focus on more for less doesn’t just stop at out-of-home options either: packaged food companies are making portions larger, plates are getting bigger, and we’re so surrounded by this growth that we don’t know how much we really need to eat.

Why is eating more a problem? Because the obesity prevalence in the US has been growing steadily since the 60s; in the US, obesity has grown from 14% in 1960, to 35% in 2005. A study by the American Medical Association has shown that the worst offenders are packaged foods like salty snacks, fruit juice drinks, and soft drinks. Manufacturers of these packaged goods are among the top culprits making us fat.

There is one question that needs to be answered: Do bigger portions really make us eat more? Absolutely. Short-term studies show subjects consumed 30% more food when given a larger portion (see the pizza example below), and the problem with that is, even though people are eating more, they are feeling 0% fuller, and regularly eating the larger portion after a year will make someone 8.3 pounds fatter. Here, we take a closer look at how portions have grown over the years, and how we can regain control.

The Journal of the American Medical Associationhttp://www.visualnews.com/2012/01/25/the-growth-of-american-food-portions/

This goes back to what I discussed earlier in the semester in regards to eating with our eyes and not our stomachs. I think at one point or another we are all guilty of this, but as Americans we are greedy in the sense that we waste so much food each year versus other countries. A question that really interest me in regards to obesity is: why are do food portions continue to grow? Why does the food and beverage industry feel they must continue to make larger, fattier portions of food? An interesting theory I've read up on is that many of these items are packed with sugar and salt, in return some researchers believe that these two ingredients have the ability  trick the senses into believing the body is still hungry. As a result the human body consumes more than they should. Another additional theory is that of the sugar substitute, high fructose corn syrup. Some researcher speculate that high fructose corn syrup triggers the mind into believing that the human body is still hungry when in reality it is not. Some of these are just a few problems to the ever expanding issue of obesity. Obviously there are multiple variables that influence the obesity epidemic in the United States, but identifying some of the most basic problems is an important step in reducing the obesity epidemic.