010215 Do Larger Restaurant Portions Cause Overeating?February 2, 2001Tufts University - According to nutrition experts, some restaurants are serving up enough food for two or three meals. But there are things you can do to keep bigger portions from turning into bigger waistlines. Restaurant portions are getting bigger -- too much for the average appetite to handle in one sitting. "I'll take some home or my son will eat it," restaurant patron Becky Mason said. A full slab of ribs from Damon's is 1 pound of meat -- more than enough for two people, according to American Heart Association guidelines. "The average serving size is 6 ounces of meat a day. Sixteen ounces is far more than what you should take in for the day," registered dietitian Anne Marie Conklin of Southwest General Health Center said. Restaurant managers have a different outlook. "I think people go where they feel they're getting the best buy for their money; where they don't have to ask for extras," one kitchen manager said. A survey of portions at several popular restaurants is published in the Tufts University health and nutrition letter. For example, at Chili's, the chicken fajita quesadillas have one and a half to two servings of meat and seven servings of grain -- all you need for the whole day. And a Johnny Rocket's burger and fries adds up to one to two meat servings, three and a half servings of grain and five servings of fries. Conklin suggests measuring some food at home, so you'll know what a serving size of pasta should look like the next time you're out. "This would be a half-cup of spaghetti -- one serving," she said. "You get two to three times that (when you go) out." And if it's too much, you can always save some until later or share the food with others.
E-mail: sflanagan@sprintmail.com |
