The blackened prime rib, a recent special at a favorite restaurant, filled the plate. On the scales, the huge hunk of meat weighed 12 ounces after cooking.
What diners didn’t know is that the meat alone–never mind the side dishes–contained 1,280 calories and 108 grams of fat.
Although hefty, that prime rib is a mere snack compared with some of the meals served in other restaurants, such as one grill that serves a 25-ounce rib-eye steak that has an outrageous 2,707 calories and 146 grams of fat.
For comparison purposes, the average daily calorie intake listed on food packages is 2,000. The fat intake at that calorie level should be no more than 71 grams. The recommended intake of meat for an entire day is 5 to 6 ounces.
Across the country, restaurants and food companies are piling it on. Soft-drink companies now sell soda pop in 1-liter instead of 12-ounce bottles. Cinnamon buns come in giant, 700-calorie portions. Fast-food chains are supersizing everything on their menus.
Such portion inflation is resulting in supersized Americans too, say a growing number of health experts.
“People have lost the perception of what a portion size is supposed to be,” says Donna Skoda, a dietitian with the Ohio State University Extension Service. “People are eating a ton of extra calories.”
Americans in general are gaining weight at an alarming rate. For the first time in history, the majority of Americans–an estimated 55 percent–are overweight, according to the National Institutes of Health.
This has happened even as U.S. fat intake has dropped in the last 20 years from an average of 40 percent of calories to 33 percent. The problem is, daily calorie intake has risen to 2,002 from 1,854. In theory, that translates into a weight gain of 15 pounds a year.
Excess weight contributes to a host of medical problems, including heart disease, hypertension, cancer, diabetes and stroke.
Creating bigger appetites
In a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture survey, only 1 percent of the respondents could correctly identify the serving sizes recommended in the Food Guide Pyramid, the visual dietary aid developed by the USDA.
It’s no wonder, with the heaps of food Americans are offered as single servings.
McDonald’s super-size french fries, according to our measurements, weigh 7 ounces and amount to 3 cups. The portion has 540 calories and 26 grams of fat. When the company began selling french fries in the 1950s, customers were satisfied with the small serving (the only one available then) at 220 calories and 12 grams of fat.
Soft-drink companies have introduced 1-liter bottles, which contain almost 32 ounces and about 405 calories. Bagels that once were 2 ounces are now 4 ounces. Tacos come in Belle Grande sizes with 360 calories and 23 grams of fat. Even the once-simple muffin has mutated into a towering snack.
“We’re getting too much food served to us,” says Carrie Wiatt, a Los Angeles dietitian and author of “Portion Savvy.” She says one telling marker of the big-food trend is that restaurant plates have grown to an average of 13 inches in the past decade, up from 9 inches.
Studies have shown people eat 40 to 50 percent more than they normally would when served a large portion, Skoda says.
Not even children are immune. In a study by researchers at Pennsylvania State University, 5-year-olds who were served small, medium and large portions of macaroni and cheese on successive days ate far more when served the large portion.
Co-author Barbara Rolls says the study proved that by 5 years of age, children have learned to ignore their internal hunger cues and respond instead to other cues, including portion size.
People get used to big portions in restaurants and begin to serve oversize portions at home, Wiatt says.
Many of Wiatt’s clients complain that they they’re eating healthful foods, yet still gaining weight. Huge portions are to blame, she says.
“At the end of the day, a calorie is a calorie,” Wiatt says. “If you take in more calories than your body needs and you’re not burning it, you’re going to gain weight. It doesn’t matter if it comes from a cucumber or bacon.”
In restaurants, diners must learn to push back from the table when the plate is still half-full, Wiatt and Skoda say. And at home, they must serve smaller portions.
“I always tell people when they go to a restaurant, chances are they’re getting a 1,000-to 1,500-calorie meal,” Skoda says. People should eat no more than 500 to 600 calories per meal, she says.
People who order appetizers are getting even more calories. The blooming onions that are popular now contain about 2,000 calories, Skoda calculates. Even if two diners split one, each person will consume far too many calories.
Both Skoda and Wiatt blame food companies and restaurants for luring customers at the cost of their health.
“Food manufacturers are selling portion size,” Skoda says.
Says Wiatt: “We’ve got to convince food companies that less is more. We’ve got to take control back.”
FIGHT PORTION DISTORTION
This can help you recognize a ‘serving’ as defined by the USDA Food Guide Pyramid:
– Three ounces of meat, poultry or fish are about the size of a deck of playing cards or a computer mouse.
– One-half cup of cut fruit or vegetables, pasta or rice is about the size of a small fist.
– One cup of milk, yogurt or chopped fresh greens is about the size of small hand holding a tennis ball.
– One ounce of cheese is about the size of your thumb, or a domino.
— Knight-Ridder/Tribune
GETTING A GRIP ON PORTIONS
Los Angeles dietitian Carrie Wiatt recommends that people study the USDA Food Guide Pyramid (take a look on-line at www.usda.gov/cnpp/pyramid2.htm). Then measure and weigh portions for a month or so, to retrain your brain and your mouth.
– Shopping: After coming home from the store, Wiatt suggests cutting meat and fish into portions right away.
– Dining at home: Divide cooked food into portions in the kitchen and put it on plates. Leave the remaining food in the kitchen.
– Dining out: Dietitian Donna Skoda recommends leaving half of the food on the plate. Take home leftovers for another meal. Or offer to share a course with a dining partner, even if there’s a plate charge for sharing.
“I tell people that’s an investment in their health,” Skoda says.
Avoid “large” or “all-you-can-eat” portions of anything. Ask for the smallest box of popcorn at a theater. Share a bagel or a muffin with a friend.
Salads these days are huge, and a lot of high-fat, high-calorie dressing usually is added. People who order big salads “probably would be better off with meat loaf and mashed potatoes,” Skoda says.
— Jane Snow
