Then and Now - Portion sizes ??

One of the interesting things that change while a country goes through development path is the changes in "food habits, consumption patterns". Some of the good things that happen during developing stages is that

• abundance, easy availability and ease in sourcing of stuff that otherwise not earlier feasible (If it is grown somewhere in the world, I am sure it is available for consumption in US somewhere !)


• extended life through improved preservation, packaging and distribution through grocery chains linked across country


• switch from commodity base to variety focused (for eg ordering Coffee in old days was just that -coffee, you never asked for other options - now you go to starbucks the menu listing is quite a mouth ful !)


• easier processing / bulk manufacturing through automation (even mother's milk is available in packets)

So all of these have made our life easier such that we get the food that we like best, closer to home, in best possible condition and comfort, ofcourse at best possible prices.

Now let's look at the negative side & impact of these changes- particularly focusing on one topic "Portion sizes of food items". Most of you have watched the movie Supersize me (If not, you should !)

I did notice this too like most immigrants, the size of what is considered small in US is equivalent to probably a medium or large elsewhere in world. So the common complaint heard from an American visiting other countries is that portions are generally small, where as those visiting US are in awe of the supersizes when they order for example a large soda or pizza.

So on one hand we should be happy that we get a better value for money in quantity terms(physical measures like lb or gram per $ spent), but what about the qualitative impact the bigger portion has on

• long term health of population exposed ?
• amount of food wastage ?
• impact on food shortages ? or resulting rise in prices ?
• ofcourse the impact of overconsumption on earth's resources ?

Unquestionably bad right!! but what do we do about it ? or more importantly as relevant to this blog is how are developing countries dealing with this trap of increased size portions while adopting to the new food habits such as prepared meals, packaged meals, fast foods, refrigerated items etc ? or what should they be doing differently and pro-actively learning from lessons

So here is where I spent sometime exploring the world w/respect to Portion sizes, for example "what size should a pizza slice be ?", or "how much coffee should be there in one cup ?", or "how do we avoid food wastage ?" etc . Also the measures being adopted (good and bad if any) in different parts of the world to control this epidemic.

Facts to know :

> Excellent quiz from National Institute of Health (NIH) to gain an awareness of how portions of food have grown in US in over last few decades.

> Portion sizes offered by fastfood chains are often two to five times larger than when first
introduced.

Hershey's chocolate bar 0.6 oz in 1908 ; 1.6 - 8.0 oz in 2002
Burger King Hamburger sandwich 3.9 oz in 1954 ; 4.4-12.6 oz in 2002
McDonald's soda 7 fl oz in 1955 ; 12-42 fl oz in 2002
Coca Cola bottle 6.5 fl oz in 1916 ; 8-34 fl oz in 2002

> Portion sizes of these items offered in the United States exceed those available in Europe. Largest orders of French fries and soda at McDonald’s in the United States contain about 100 calories more than the largest sizes offered in Sweden, for example.

> Fast-food portions in Europe ofcourse also are also larger today than they were in 1998. Today’s largest soda at Burger King in the UK is 10 oz larger than in 1998.

> Americans spend nearly half of their food budget on foods prepared outside of the home and consume about one-third of daily calories from outside sources, much of it from fast food.

> Rather than reducing portion sizes, the top fast-food chains are engaged in sleight of name, so don't be fooled by the so-called voluntaty efforts. McDonald’s and Wendy’s have dropped descriptors such as Supersize, Biggie, and Great Biggie and replaced them with Medium or Large

> Discussion about fast food and its negative impact

Sources : Journal of Public Health Policy (2007) 28, 238–248. The Contribution of Expanding Portion Sizes to the US Obesity Epidemic

Efforts being done in India:

FSSAI - established under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 which consolidates various acts & orders that have hitherto handled food related issues in various Ministries and Departments. FSSAI has been created for laying down science based standards for articles of food and to regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption.

Food quality regulator to rate Delhi eateries ahead of 2010 Games

Lessons to-be learned & measures to be adopted :

Policy approaches are urgently needed in developing countries to establish, educate and enforce portion size controls & reduce energy intake from fast foods learning from the experiences of developed countries.

Governments, health care regulatory agencies, industry, political parties, NGOs, citizens in general from developing nations like India to immediately look for ways to avoid this problem in first place, and aggressively initiate proactive measures.

Derived from my own research and assessment, here is a sample list of such measures that are needed for places like India :

• A single front-of-pack labelling scheme for all packaged foods & publishing mandatory nutritional information on menus for food eaten out of home
• smaller portion size restrictions & increased taxation for energy-dense and high salt foods & saturated fat and sugar levels in particularly beverages
• guidelines for marketing food to children in schools, cafeterias
• increasing public awareness and consumption of healthier and balanced foods and media-based communication of key healthy eating messages to explain and act on the relationship between portion sizes, calorie intake, and weight gain.

Ofcourse to implement these, there is no need to reinvent, here are some examples of already work done globally which can be tailored to local needs:

• CDC Brochure and Dietary recommendations for Americans in US on portion control
• In 2001, the Surgeon General announced a "Call to Action" for obesity prevention which stressed the importance of portion control.
• The New York City Health Department recently approved regulations to require fast-food chains to post the calorie counts of foods directly on menu boards
• Taxation : A Healthy Tax - taxing drinks/foods oversized or loaded with sugar or salt is the right step toward fighting this epidemic.
• Efforts in UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) directing all stakeholders including businesses, trade associations and non-governmental organisations to take action.

As you are aware this is by no means is end of this topic, but rather a beginning - feel free to add your comments, raise local awareness among politicians, join a non-profit group, initiate your own actions to help out.