Food Portions and Super Sized Meals

Measuring Tape on Dinner Plate Oversized mugs, 11-inch dinner plates, jumbo muffin tins, and super soup/pasta bowls are becoming the norm. So what’s the big deal, you might ask.

Most people will fill their plate with food. A standard size dinner plate is 9 inches in diameter, so the 2-inch difference of the larger plate allows you to consume 50% more food if you fill your plate and eat until it is empty.

The USDA has established recommended serving sizes and most marketplace portions are at least twice as large as these standards. Some portions are up to eight times greater than the standard.

Portion Sizes - Then and Now

Food Type	1950s	2010
French Fries	2.4 oz	7.1 oz
Pasta	1 1/2 cups	3 cups
Soda	7 oz	64 oz
Muffin	3.0 oz	6.5 oz
Hamburger sandwich	3.0 oz	up to 12.6 oz

Types and proportions of food choices to make

Larger portions of food, unhealthy food choices and less physical activity all contribute to serious health problems we have in America. There are things we can do to stop and reverse this trend. Here are some tips for managing your plate.

Learn to read food labels
Adopt the “half-in-a-box” practice
Share a meal when eating out
Compare marketplace portions to recommended serving sizes
Repackage supersize bags
Use a smaller plate
Slow down!

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Did You Know?

Research shows people tend to eat most or all of what they are served, and when consumers buy a large size bag of anything, they tend to eat more at one sitting. This trend continues at home where we have control over how much we put on our plate because we we’ve grown accustomed to the larger servings.

Choose My Plate A health initiative presented by Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service