In this article: Portion-control tips Visualize a real serving Sources

Diet quick fix: Eat half as much of everything

As our "eyes" have gotten bigger, our bellies have followed.

Below: What exactly is one serving?

PRIMARY REASON Americans are getting fatter is our outsized view of a single serving of food. Chances are the muffin your grandmother ate was only one fourth to half as big as your typical muffin. Ditto for a serving of cereal or ice cream.

Many nutrition experts blame "pig-out" portions for our growing obesity epidemic, incriminated in higher rates of heart disease and diabetes. Half of all Americans are overweight and 22% are obese, weighing at least one fifth too much. Obesity is responsible for about 300,000 deaths a year, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.

We average 230 more daily calories than we did 20 years ago.

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A 1950s fast-food burger contained little more than 1 ounce of meat; a soft drink was 8 ounces (1 cup). Compare that with today's 6-ounce burger patty and 32- to 64-ounce drinks -- a quart to a half gallon!

Supersized foods help create supersized people, says Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University.

Worse, most Americans grossly over-estimate a normal serving size. Asked to bring in "medium-sized" potatoes, bagels, cookies and other foods, Nestle's students chose foods two to five times bigger than a standard serving.

Unfortunately, the more food that's put in front of you, the more you eat, reports researcher Brian Wansink of the Univer-sity of Illinois at Champaign. In a test, moviegoers ate 44% more popcorn from a large bag than from a medium bag. In general, Wansink says, a large package encourages you to eat 9% to 36% more of most food and 50% more candy and snacks.

Particularly treacherous: giant servings in restaurants. You can get more than a whole day's calories in just one serving of some fast foods. One example: Steakhouses commonly serve cheese fries (French fries coated with cheese and ranch dressing) in a 4-cup serving that provides 3,000 calories, two thirds of them from fat.

"Restaurants' portion sizes are unbelievable -- two to four times bigger than the government's designated portions," says Jane Hurley of the consumer watchdog Center for Science in the Public Interest.

The fact is, the more you eat out, the more calories you eat and the fatter you get. In one University of Memphis study, women who ate restaurant or takeout food at least six times a week took in 16% more calories -- an extra 288 a day -- and 30% more fat than women who ate out less often. Tufts University researchers found that the more often people of all ages ate in restaurants, the more body fat they had; what's more, they consumed more calories and fat, but less fiber.

Bringing food portions under control can go a long way in curbing weight.

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Portion-control tips

• In restaurants, share entrees, or ask the waiter to put half the entree in a doggie bag before you even touch it.
• Order lunch-sized portions. Many restaurants serve 4-6 ounces of meat at lunch, compared with 8-10 ounces at dinner.
• At home, use smaller plates and bowls. It will look as if you're eating more.
• Check food labels for serving size. Eat one serving only.
• Measure label servings to see their sizes. Examples: 2 level tablespoons of peanut butter, 1/2 cup ice cream.
• Buy smaller packages of candy, popcorn and snacks.

More help for wise size

A new book helps you visualize the diet damage of oversized and unwise portions. Dr. Shapiro's Picture Perfect Weight Loss: The Visual Program for Permanent Weight Loss (Rodale, $29.95) contains photos of more than 100 food comparisons. For example, it shows one big bagel with butter, packed with 700 calories -- the same as in two light pancakes with light syrup plus two vegetarian links, a bowl of Cheerios, a big bowl of mixed fruit, two slices of light toast with jam and a large banana.

Influence of large servings
Wansink, B. Journal of Marketing, 1996, Jul; 60:1-14

Restaurant eating and body fat
McCrory, M.A. Obes Res 1999, Nov; 7(6): 564-71

Additional source info
To find original health info use the National Library of Medicine Web site. Once there, search medical journals for any keyword. This is a necessary skill for anyone trying to get to the bottom of research.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/