Portion Contortion
I’m sorry about the recent scarcity of Auntie’s Blog; unfortunately, I was struck down with the creeping crud that’s sweeping the southwestern states here in the US, and it nailed me for almost two weeks, which is pretty unusual. Needless to say, I look like I’ve been fighting typhoid…I glanced in the mirror yesterday and realized that in order to achieve truth in advertising, I was going to have to change my face cream from “Crème de La Mer™” to “Crème de La Cur.”
And away we go....
According to research by Mintel International, (See “Weighing Obesity” by William A. Roberts, Jr., in this month’s articles at Preparedfoods.com), portion control research continues to indicate that we are ever-increasingly influenced to make poor eating decisions by distorted food portions in packaged goods and restaurants.
A 2001 report in Food Quality and Preference reported that movie-goers with a one-pound bag of M&Ms™ would eat 112 candies versus 156 for movie watchers with a two pound bag. Curiously enough, an additional factor appeared to be color variety; if the study subjects were offered more colors, they ate more than if provided with only one or two colors of M&Ms™.
Another experiment indicated that when provided with a continuously refilled soup bowl (unknown to the customers), women would eat 30% more soup than they did if the bowl emptied normally, while men would overeat an additional 40 percent.
This also holds true for children. When served approximately double the proper portions, children would eat 25% more food; when they served themselves, they would eat about 25% less than those served a large portion. According to this study, repeated exposure to larger portions could have a long-term effect on children, creating “satiety deficits.” The study author recommended allowing children to self-serve, arguing that this may allow the child to more successfully regulate intake.
I know that at the Diner, we’ve highlighted several articles that recommend using various frozen meals for portion control (See The Diner’s Dim Sum section), in particular, Uncle Ben’s Rice Bowls. I also know that many busy moms buy Family Style frozen meals for the nights that they are too busy to cook. Me, I’m partial to the Banquet Crock Pot meals, particularly the Creamy Chicken With Pasta (Yum!!). The bag claims that it feeds a family of five, but I would suggest a salad or other veggie to go along with the meal for more balance. For $5.99, though, it’s a great and easy dinner, and if you are feeding five, it should do so without allowing anyone to overeat.
At the Diner, you can do a search for family-size meals and even sort them by the amount of calories per portion to assist you in regulating portion control for your family.
(note: Hot dog & gherkins photo, reproduced with permission, courtesy of: gallery.hd.org)
And away we go....
According to research by Mintel International, (See “Weighing Obesity” by William A. Roberts, Jr., in this month’s articles at Preparedfoods.com), portion control research continues to indicate that we are ever-increasingly influenced to make poor eating decisions by distorted food portions in packaged goods and restaurants.
A 2001 report in Food Quality and Preference reported that movie-goers with a one-pound bag of M&Ms™ would eat 112 candies versus 156 for movie watchers with a two pound bag. Curiously enough, an additional factor appeared to be color variety; if the study subjects were offered more colors, they ate more than if provided with only one or two colors of M&Ms™.
Another experiment indicated that when provided with a continuously refilled soup bowl (unknown to the customers), women would eat 30% more soup than they did if the bowl emptied normally, while men would overeat an additional 40 percent.
This also holds true for children. When served approximately double the proper portions, children would eat 25% more food; when they served themselves, they would eat about 25% less than those served a large portion. According to this study, repeated exposure to larger portions could have a long-term effect on children, creating “satiety deficits.” The study author recommended allowing children to self-serve, arguing that this may allow the child to more successfully regulate intake.
I know that at the Diner, we’ve highlighted several articles that recommend using various frozen meals for portion control (See The Diner’s Dim Sum section), in particular, Uncle Ben’s Rice Bowls. I also know that many busy moms buy Family Style frozen meals for the nights that they are too busy to cook. Me, I’m partial to the Banquet Crock Pot meals, particularly the Creamy Chicken With Pasta (Yum!!). The bag claims that it feeds a family of five, but I would suggest a salad or other veggie to go along with the meal for more balance. For $5.99, though, it’s a great and easy dinner, and if you are feeding five, it should do so without allowing anyone to overeat.
At the Diner, you can do a search for family-size meals and even sort them by the amount of calories per portion to assist you in regulating portion control for your family.
(note: Hot dog & gherkins photo, reproduced with permission, courtesy of: gallery.hd.org)
posted by Auntie's Food Life at 3:13 PM
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