The Super-sizing of America's WaistlineConsumers tempted by 'bargains' of bigger portions and hefty portions make for hefty waistlines< February 4, 2003 > When the Hershey Bar was introduced in 1906, it came in one size—with Today, you can buy one containing as many as eight ounces. In 1955, a McDonald's hamburger came in one size—with 1.5 ounces of meat. Today, a "super-sized" burger can have as much as eight ounces of beef. The portion of fries that come with it, 2.3 ounces in 1955, can be as big as 7.1 ounces. And the 7-ounce regular soda of 1955 is dwarfed by today's 42-ounce super-sized serving. And so it goes in category after category of prepared foods, says a report in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Society. Increasingly, Americans are being tempted to buy more food than is good for them, the report says. It is a temptation that is a major contributor to an epidemic that sees more than 60 percent of the nation as overweight or obese. Why the portion distortion? "Money," says Marion Nestle, chairwoman of the department of nutrition and food studies at New York University and author of the report. "It doesn't cost the manufacturer very much to make larger portion sizes, since the biggest factor in cost is labor," Nestle says. "The food itself is relatively cheap." Nestle has elaborated on the theme in a recently published book, "Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health." Food companies are "very competitive for the consumer dollar," she says, and increasing portion size is an easy way to attract more customers. Consumers love getting more of each portion because "there isn't anybody telling them not to do that," and they like getting what looks like a bargain, Nestle says. If you take a close look at the label that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires on a package of prepared food, you will see a recommended portion size, and the calories it contains. However, the FDA rules say a food portion weighing up to twice the standard serving can be labeled "one portion per serving." Consumers can also be confused by discrepancies between what the FDA and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) define as a serving, Nestle says. For example, the USDA standard for a serving of cooked pasta is half a cup, but the FDA standard is a full cup. In addition, many Americans believe that the kind of food they eat—staying away from fatty food to prevent heart disease, for example—is more important than how much food they eat, Nestle says. The root of the problem is that the United States is awash in inexpensive food, with subsidized farmers encouraged to overproduce, Nestle says. Effective lobbying keeps subsidies flowing to food producers who can sell their produce cheap, she contends. There are several strategies, most involving discipline, that consumers can follow to avoid the large-portion trap, says Wahida Karmally, an associate research scientist at Columbia University and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. One is to stick to the small portions of any offering. "When I counsel my patients, I tell them, 'If you enjoy the taste of food, whether you eat a lot or a little, it tastes the same,'" she says. If tempted to order a larger portion, share it with a friend, Karmally says. "And if you are hungry, you can eat fruit or vegetables," she says. Keith Ayoob, an associate professor of pediatrics at Albert Einstein School of Medicine in the Bronx, N.Y., says, "In general, people are not getting enough of fruits and vegetables. If you have them on your plate, there is a lot less room for things with higher calorie content." However, "overeating is a condition of excess, and excess is becoming more common," Ayoob says. "Even if you eat good, healthy food, too much of anything is too much." Several calls to McDonald's officials for comment were not returned. Always consult your physician for more information.
Online Resources(Our Organization is not responsible for the content of Internet sites.) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Journal of the American Dietetic Society Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) US Department of Agriculture (USDA) |
For more information on nutrition and heart-healthy eating, please visit the Cardiovascular Diseases information module on this Web site. As Weight Goes Up, Life Span Goes DownJust about everyone knows being fat is bad for your health, but now researchers have found a way to bring that fact home. They have shown how many years you can lop off your life by carrying around extra pounds, particularly if you are very overweight and Caucasian. Using formulas based on a common measurement of obesity, the researchers estimate that morbidly obese young Caucasian people can reduce their life spans by eight to 13 years, depending on gender. Study co-author David Allison, a professor of biostatistics and director of the Clinical Nutrition Research Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, explains he and his fellow researchers wanted to help Americans understand the risks of being significantly overweight. "We've known with great confidence that, with all other things being equal, severe obesity results in increased mortality rate," he says. "But when I start saying things like that, it makes it sound slightly obscure. Then (researchers) use terms like 'relative risk' or 'odds ratios' and 'hazard ratios,' and I'm not sure how comprehensible they are to the public or the average physician." Allison and his researchers examined data about American life spans that was compiled from 1971 to 1999. Then they tried to estimate how a person's body mass index affected his/her life span. The findings appear in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Body mass index, or BMI, is a measure of how much fat a person carries. According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute guidelines, assessment of overweight involves three key measures:
The researchers found that Caucasians who lived the longest had a BMI ranging from 23 to 25; for African-Americans the range was 23 to 30. Being over—or under—those numbers could spell trouble, the researchers found. Not surprisingly, morbidly obese people—those with BMIs over 45—were at the highest risk of shorter life spans. Caucasian men aged 20 to 30 with a BMI over 45 lost up to 13 years of life, and Caucasian women lost as many as eight. To be morbidly obese, with a BMI of 45, a 5-foot-4 person would have to weigh 262 pounds; a six-footer would have to weigh 332 pounds. Always consult your physician for more information. Determining Your Body Mass IndexDetermining how much you should weigh is not a simple matter of looking at an insurance height-weight chart, but includes considering the amount of bone, muscle, and fat in your body's composition. The amount of fat is the critical measurement. A good indicator of how much fat you carry is the Body Mass Index (BMI). Although it is not a perfect measure, it gives a fairly accurate assessment of how much of your body is composed of fat. Use the following formula, provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to determine your BMI. Be sure to discuss with your physician your individual medical profile and the limitations of BMI.
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six-tenths of an ounce of chocolate.