Portion Sizes

Nielsen and Popkin compared two cross-sectional surveys using Nationwide Food Consumption Survey data from 1977 and the Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals (CSFII) data from 1989 and 1996-1998 to determine patterns and trends of portion sizes by type of food and eating location. "Key foods" (salty snacks, desserts, soft drinks, fruit drinks, French fries, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, pizza, and Mexican food) were chosen because they had the greatest percent change of energy in the U.S. diet. When data on the key foods were combined, they represented 18 percent of calories consumed in the United States in 1977-1978 and 27.7% of all calories in 1994-1996. The study found that between the survey years, portion sizes and energy intake increased for all key foods except pizza. The portion size increase resulted in an increased caloric intake for salty snacks (93 calories more), soft drinks (49 calories), hamburgers (97 calories), French fries (68 calories), and Mexican dishes (133 calories).

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