Portion Size–Knowledge versus Action

Recently, I purchased a children’s meal from a fast food restaurant.  It came with a burger, fries and apple slices.  The burger seemed a proper portion, and the apple slices were about half a medium apple.  All OK.  The fries were SMALL!  There were about 10-15 French fries in the tiny container.  Now—I purchased this type of meal for numerous reasons—it is lower in calories (and Weight Watchers points!), it is less expensive, and the portions are more realistic.  So, I should have gone back through the drive-through and thanked them!  Instead—I just pondered what a serving size of fries really is????

According to the USDA, a serving of French Fries is about 10.   10!  Wow.  I knew tater tots were the same.  So, I checked the nutrition of the small versus the “regular” size fries—small contains 100 calories, the regular size—380 calories.  This explains the obesity epidemic very nicely.  Large is the new normal as far as serving sizes go.  Get more value for your money by going to an “all you care to eat” restaurant.   Larger plates; piles of food.  This is what we have all decided is normal.  We have come to expect it.

I try and have my children check serving sizes on their favorite foods.  Hmm…cereal—about ¾ – 1 cup.  Pasta—1 cup cooked—good luck with just putting 1 cup on your plate.  Chips—10-15—chips—not handfuls.  I can go on and on.  As a dietitian, I have serving sizes engraved in stone in my head.  As a consumer, there is a disconnect.  Value for my money?  I think we need to start promoting smaller plates, and larger portions of fruits and vegetables.  No one has ever died of too many apples or too much broccoli!  Just food for thought!