文章基本信息

标题：The Contribution of Expanding Portion Sizes to the US Obesity Epidemic
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作者：Lisa R. Young ; Marion Nestle
期刊名称：American journal of public health
印刷版ISSN：0090-0036
出版年度：2002
卷号：92
期号：2
页码：246-249
语种：English
出版社：American Public Health Association
摘要：Objectives . Because larger food portions could be contributing to the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity, this study was designed to weigh samples of marketplace foods, identify historical changes in the sizes of those foods, and compare current portions with federal standards. Methods . We obtained information about current portions from manufacturers or from direct weighing; we obtained information about past portions from manufacturers or contemporary publications. Results . Marketplace food portions have increased in size and now exceed federal standards. Portion sizes began to grow in the 1970s, rose sharply in the 1980s, and have continued in parallel with increasing body weights. Conclusions . Because energy content increases with portion size, educational and other public health efforts to address obesity should focus on the need for people to consume smaller portions. The prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased sharply among US adults and children in recent years. 1– 3 Although multiple factors can account for weight gain, the basic cause is an excess of energy intake over expenditure. If, as has been reported, activity patterns have not changed much in the past decade, 4, 5 the rise in body weights must be caused by increased energy intake. Indeed, dietary intake surveys indicate a per capita increase of 200 kcal/d from 1977–1978 6 to 1994–1996, 7 and the US food supply (total food produced, less exports, plus imports) now provides 500 kcal/d per capita more than in the 1970s. 8 Regardless of how imprecise such figures may be, they appear to confirm that Americans consume more energy than they did in the past. At issue is the cause of this increase. An obvious suggestion is food consumed outside the home, which accounted for 34% of the food budget in 1970 9 but 47% by the late 1990s. 10 Another possibility is the size of food portions. Many observations hint that out-of-home portion sizes are increasing. 11 Larger portions not only contain more energy but also encourage people to eat more, 12– 14 making it more difficult to balance static levels of physical activity. Although federal dietary advice is to choose “sensible portions,” 15 these portions are not defined except by US Department of Agriculture (USDA) standards given in the food guide pyramid 16 and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards for food labels. 17 Both agencies base standards, in part, on information reported in dietary intake surveys, 18, 19 but the standards appear to be smaller than marketplace portions. Because such discrepancies may confuse people who are attempting to follow dietary advice 20 and because little information is available on the current sizes of marketplace portions, we measured and compared food weights with those offered in the past and with USDA and FDA standards.