Portion Distortion
You know, as much as simple answers would be great, they generally aren't correct. I don't think the obesity epidemic in this country (and other western countries) is down to any one thing. It's a lot of things that add up. But I also think that portion distortion is a major component of the problem. Consider these numbers (source: a CNN.com quiz I took this morning):
20 years ago a bagel was 3 inches in diameter and 140 cals.
Today a bagel is 6 inches in diameter and 350 cals.
The average portion of spaghetti has doubled (from 1 cup of pasta and sauce & 3 small meatballs) to double that, with it costing you 1,025 cals.
French fries have gone from 210 cals (2.4 oz) to 610 cals (6.9 oz)
A turkey sandwich that you might order at a deli has gone from 320 cals to 820 cals (ACK!)
And of course, everybody's favorite bad habit - sodapop.
According to this quiz, 20 years ago a serving of pop was 6.5 oz and 85 cals, whereas today it is 20 oz and 250 cals.
Now, I must take exception to THAT, because I was drinking pop 20 years ago, and there were NO 6.5 oz bottles of pop that I ever saw. Since I became aware of pop (mid-70s), we have gone from the 16.9 oz glass bottle to the 20 oz plastic bottle (and now the 24 oz plastic bottle). Yes, there are the 12 oz cans as well. But I cannot remember ever seeing a 6.5 oz can or bottle of pop, except for the cute, over-priced, retro bottles of Coke you occasionally see.
My mom clearly remembers the tiny bottles, although she wasn't sure if they were 8 oz or 6 oz. Her mother used to bring home 1 six-pack a week from the grocery store, and each member of the family got 1 Coke. Got that? One 6.5 oz Coke a week. (Of course, that's not counting what they got when they were out with friends or whatever. That's at home.)
I must say that my grandmother was quite nutritionally sound for her day and age, and she kept her figure even after having 4 kids in 7 years. And you know what? If you only drink 6.5 oz of Coke a week, you probably wouldn't have a problem. Of course, 6.5 oz a DAY is less than most of us drink!
While I disgree with the quiz stating that 20 years ago, a Coke was 6.5 oz, I WILL say that a SERVING of Coke is 8 oz. It states that clearly on the product. Of course, they don't SELL the product in the correct amount, but...
The ones that surprised me were the spaghetti and the turkey sandwich. You sit down to a plate of pasta, you don't realize you're eating over half your day's allotment of food. The fries I already knew, because I read Fat Land. I remember when fries came in a little paper bag.
Gosh am I getting old or what?
20 years ago a bagel was 3 inches in diameter and 140 cals.
Today a bagel is 6 inches in diameter and 350 cals.
The average portion of spaghetti has doubled (from 1 cup of pasta and sauce & 3 small meatballs) to double that, with it costing you 1,025 cals.
French fries have gone from 210 cals (2.4 oz) to 610 cals (6.9 oz)
A turkey sandwich that you might order at a deli has gone from 320 cals to 820 cals (ACK!)
And of course, everybody's favorite bad habit - sodapop.
According to this quiz, 20 years ago a serving of pop was 6.5 oz and 85 cals, whereas today it is 20 oz and 250 cals.
Now, I must take exception to THAT, because I was drinking pop 20 years ago, and there were NO 6.5 oz bottles of pop that I ever saw. Since I became aware of pop (mid-70s), we have gone from the 16.9 oz glass bottle to the 20 oz plastic bottle (and now the 24 oz plastic bottle). Yes, there are the 12 oz cans as well. But I cannot remember ever seeing a 6.5 oz can or bottle of pop, except for the cute, over-priced, retro bottles of Coke you occasionally see.
My mom clearly remembers the tiny bottles, although she wasn't sure if they were 8 oz or 6 oz. Her mother used to bring home 1 six-pack a week from the grocery store, and each member of the family got 1 Coke. Got that? One 6.5 oz Coke a week. (Of course, that's not counting what they got when they were out with friends or whatever. That's at home.)
I must say that my grandmother was quite nutritionally sound for her day and age, and she kept her figure even after having 4 kids in 7 years. And you know what? If you only drink 6.5 oz of Coke a week, you probably wouldn't have a problem. Of course, 6.5 oz a DAY is less than most of us drink!
While I disgree with the quiz stating that 20 years ago, a Coke was 6.5 oz, I WILL say that a SERVING of Coke is 8 oz. It states that clearly on the product. Of course, they don't SELL the product in the correct amount, but...
The ones that surprised me were the spaghetti and the turkey sandwich. You sit down to a plate of pasta, you don't realize you're eating over half your day's allotment of food. The fries I already knew, because I read Fat Land. I remember when fries came in a little paper bag.
Gosh am I getting old or what?
posted by The Big Seester | 10:31 AM
1 Comments:
Really? That's comforting, I guess.
When I was a kid, McD's was a special treat, and we could order either a hamburger or a cheeseburger and a small fry and MILK. Then, if we finished it, we got a small milkshake.
I once asked why I couldn't have a Coke, and Mom explained that the Coke would count as my dessert, and did I really prefer a Coke to a milkshake?
That didn't take too much thinking about.
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