Dine Out Without "Super-sizing" Your Weight

Source: Tufts University
June 20, 2002 (Reviewed: June 29, 2004)

How much food should appear on your plate when you dine out? It depends who you ask.

A recent survey by two New York University researchers demonstrated that the portion sizes of many popular menu items - including pasta, hamburgers, French fries, bagels, muffins, and soda - have inched up in the last decade. What used to pass as a serving of pasta, for instance, now looks more like an appetizer to most diners. As a result of this trend toward larger portions in restaurant meals, there is a significant gap between what US health officials say is an average serving of food and what you'll likely be served the next time you eat out.

The researchers compared the serving sizes established by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) - the agency that analyzes the nutrient content of food - with the portion sizes actually served in selected restaurants and bakeries. They found that the average bakery muffin was more than three times larger than what the USDA counts as a serving. A restaurant serving of steak was actually several servings, and bagels were almost twice the USDA standard for size.

Is bigger better?

This trend toward "super-sizing" is readily apparent in fast food restaurants, where portions of hamburgers, French fries, and soda are two to five times larger than those that first appeared on take-out menus in the 1960s. This appears to be more of a problem in the United States than in Europe; for instance, what is considered an "extra large" McDonalds soda in Rome or London is only a "large" in the United States.

Consumer advice

The authors of this survey urge consumers to rethink what they want to get out of a restaurant meal. Larger servings are often priced as "value meals" that offer a lot more food for slightly more money. But larger portions mean that each meal supplies that many more calories and considerably more fat, and that is not really a bargain for most consumers.

Here are three basic strategies to "down size" your next restaurant meal:

• Order an appetizer as an entrée, or split an entrée with another diner.
• Tell your server when you order that you'd like half your entrée wrapped to take home.
• Resist the urge to buy the larger size of anything - or "two-for" deals - just because it looks like you're getting more for your money.

Source

• The contribution of expanding portion sizes to the US obesity epidemic. L. Young, M. Nestle, American Journal of Public Health., 2002, vol. 92, pp. 246--249

Related Links
Portion Control: It's in Your Hands
Weight Loss: Small Steps Add Up to Large Rewards
Weighing Your Longevity Part IV: Losing Weight Safely
Obesity and Ageing: Alert or Alarm?
To quickly access additional accurate information on this and other nutrition-related topics, visit Tufts University's Nutrition Navigator

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