I found this great infographic at the Massive Health blog and thought I’d share it. When I did diabetes-prevention research last summer, I read a ton of articles on how portion size increases have affected the obesity crisis, and I remember noting a noticeable change in portion sizes when crossing the Canadian-American border. At the same time, I doubt that this is solely an American problem – we see more rich food and larger portions in Europe as well, and I for one am guilty too of mindless eating in front of the computer or a TV show. Relearning our hunger cues is definitely a good step forward for all of us, I think.
The only thing I don’t like about this infographic is that they feature a baked potato as a vegetable serving – I guess this would be the one “vegetable” that you would have to actually be mindful of your portions of, but still it reminds me that the USDA approves of french fries, ketchup etc. as “vegetable” servings in school lunches 🙁 I think that if you wanted to get people to eat healthier, showing that a serving size of veggies is actually surprisingly big would be a better motivation to get your five-a-day in. As for me, I’m off to making a huge salad for dinner – one area where you should definitely finish your plate!
Do you live in the States – or elsewhere – and have noticed an increase in portion size in your area? What do you think of the serving size suggestions?
Interesting, and makes a lot of sense.
Not sure why they gave a baked potato as an example of a vegetable, though. Seems like they misunderstood a few things about nutrition/plant taxonomy.
Reblogged this on Corporate Skirts and commented:
Obesity being as big a problem as malnourishment… good post.
Absolutely agree — also PLATE size is a huge thing, because we were looking for dinner plates recently and found that so many are these massive things, which encourage a bigger serving (or a dainty artistic haute cuisine-esque delicacy, but you can imagine how many of those I whip up).
We don’t eat out a lot, but I’ve noticed is the way that ‘value’ is promoted as a selling tool. Seems so silly, because obviously you only need a certain amount of food, but most of us love the idea of a bargain, and so end up with more than we really wanted in the first place, you know?
Reblogged this on Sril Farms.
An interesting pieces, as usual:) But, I wondered what your issue with the potato is? The debate in the UK about whether or not the potato should be re-classified to count as one of our five-a-day veggies rumbles away. Potatoes are packed full of nutrition, particularly B and C vitamins, plus fibre and iron. I suppose new potatoes could be considered more “healthy” than an old potato that has been baked, but I’d still vote for spuds as being “good”. Is this just a reflection of the modern-day worry about “carbs”?
I totally agree with you that potatoes are nutritious, and I am definitely not one to hate on carbs (I love ’em!) However, in my mind at least if you are talking about dividing your food into starches, protein and fruit/vegetables, I would still count potatoes toward starches and encourage people to add more green/colorful vegetables to their plates. Plus, as I said, often the nutritious benefits of potatoes that lead to them being classified as a vegetables are cancelled out when they are served deep-fried in french fry or chips format, so I felt that pre-emptively emphasizing another veggie as your example might prevent this kind of confusion 🙂
Reblogged this on Science on the Land.
It Makes sense for sure. Though I would have to say that more important than the size of your plate is the kind of food it has. This only makes sense if one is eating the standard american diet which if full of processed foods and added fats. If you fill your plate with veggies, fruits, whole grains and legumes, this is hardly an issue. I like the infographic. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the info! Another good technique to eating smaller portions is to pay attention to your body as you are eating- if you eat slower and pay attention to how you are feeling, you can better tell when you are full. This way, you can avoid over-eating.