Portion distortion: An obesity-causing obsession
By Cat Smiley
Reporter
The Western world is in danger. No, it’s not a flood, tsunami or fatal hurricane. We’re too fat. Yes, that’s right. Fasten your seat belts; there’s quite a ride ahead of us. This horrendous epidemic has been recently coined as GLOBESITY by the World Health Organization, and is estimated to affect more than 1 billion adults around the world, of whom at least 300 million are obese and in danger of dying before their time.
We will eat whatever is in front of us. Our portions are super-sized, but it isn’t so super when you consider we are eating up to four times more than we were 40 years ago.
Studies confirm that our perceptions of portion sizes have been massively distorted since serving sizes of foods sold in restaurants and stores have become bigger. We think more is better value, but consider the potential cost of the repercussions — the population of obese people in our province costs approximately $800 million per year, according to recent findings included in a new study on The Cost of Obesity in British Columbia.
It is estimated that 2,000 British Columbians die prematurely each year from obesity-related diseases. Ironically, these people will often not admit to being fat, even if it kills them. Why? Just like portion sizes, we’ve gotten progressively bigger over the years, so it's almost impossible to know what “normal” is anymore.
Some genuinely still believe they are big-boned, and holding water. Denial, baby! I’m not buying the excuses you're selling. Just go for a 20-minute walk each day and eat less!
There’s nothing like rolling out of bed on a Sunday mid-morning, making banana pancakes and soaking up the cartoon channel until it’s time to go mountain biking. But did you know that one pancake serving is actually supposed to be the size of a compact disc, which counts towards your five to 10 grain servings that you should be aiming for each day.
One serving of cheese is approximately the size of four dice. Order nachos in a restaurant and you can expect to consume more than 1,000 calories.
Many people start the day with a $5 coffee drink, and we're not talking a skim milk latté here. Today it's all about concoctions that would edge out the most extravagant deserts — such as the Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino Blended Coffee (yup, they still call it coffee).
In a 24-ounce cup are 580 calories and 19 grams of fat. You’d be better off consuming a McDonald’s quarter-pounder with cheese (510 calories and just a few more grams of fat).
Actually, you’d be better off just having a fist full of cereal, with a dollop of yogurt. But you already know that.
Obesity and portions
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