“Back in my day…” may be the way your parents tend to start a lot of their sentences.
But if they end them with “…the portions weren’t nearly as big as they are today,” it turns out they’re actually onto something.
Business Insider has created a video that shows just how drastically food portions have changed in the last 20 years. You should definitely check it out.
So if you remember your servings being smaller in 1996, it’s not just because you were little back then – it’s because we’ve gradually been upping the portions, and increasing the size of our plates and cups to boot.
According to Business Insider, the “baseline portion size of our snacks and meals has grown by as much as 138% since the 1970s.”
That’s almost two and a half times as much food.
We’re used to being told that we’re getting fatter. But the prevalence of fast food establishments, increased exposure to snack food, and a growing propensity for kids to play video games instead of tag has often been cited as the cause.
Well, it’s time we start talking about portion control.
And it’s not just the burgers and fries that have ballooned out of control. Even if we only have one bagel for lunch, it’s doubled in size to 6 oz in the last 20 years.
Or how about a solitary breakfast muffin? Well, it used to only be 1.5 oz and 210 calories, but now we can expect a gargantuan snack at around 5 oz that’ll set us back a shocking 500 calories.
The same goes for spaghetti and meatballs. As for pizza… don’t even ask.
Because we all know we’re still going to eat it anyway.
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