Portion Distortion
Size Up Your Servings
Helping you achieve a healthy
community within your worksite
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Portion Distortion
Goal of Lesson:
Improve participant’s knowledge regarding portion
sizes and ability to determine the difference
between portion size and serving size.
Objectives:


Statistics
Activity: Cereal Bowls
Consuming just 100
extra calories daily
for a year can result
in a weight gain of
10 pounds.
Instructions
1. Have a box of cereal and 2-3 bowls (preferably
different size bowls) on a table.
2. Ask for 2-3 volunteers. Have volunteers serve
themselves the amount of cereal they would normally
eat for breakfast.
3. Next, give each volunteer a measuring cup and
another bowl to measure out how much cereal they
had put in the bowl. Then have them look at the
correct cereal serving size on the food label.
Materials
Needed





Cereal
Bowls
Measuring cups
Portion Distortion
handout
Optional:
Computer &
Projector to view
Power Point and
Video Clip
Identify 2 ways to reduce portion sizes.
Recognize the health concerns related to large
portion sizes.

Does the amount they put in the bowls measure up
with the actual serving size the food label
recommends?

Did the person using the larger bowl pour more cereal
than the person with the smaller bowl?
Background:

In a study conducted at a health and fitness
camp, campers who were given larger bowls
served and consumed 16% more cereal than
those given smaller bowls.
Wansink, B., & van Ittersum, Koert. (2006). The visual illusions of
food: Why plates, bowls, and spoons can bias consumption
volume. FASEB Journal, 20(4), A618.
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Portion Distortion
Main Points:
 Portion sizes have increased dramatically within the last 20 years.
Cans of soda used to be 8 ounces, now a can is 12 ounces, and you
can even get 32-ounce sodas.
 Control Portion Distortion in Your Home Video (optional)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lfdvjlm1V7k
 Why could larger portion sizes be a problem?
 Answer: The bigger the portion, the more you are likely
overeat and underestimate the amount of food you are
eating. This could lead to unwanted weight gain.
 Portion Control: Eating unhealthy things is ok once in a while when
we practice portion control.
 A portion is the amount of food served, whether you serve
yourself or someone else serves you.
 Serving size is the recommended amount of food to eat.
 You can look at a package and look at the food label
where is says serving size. It will most likely list the serving size
in cups, ounces (oz), Tbs, tsp, etc depending on the type of
food it is. The serving size of peanut butter is usually in Tbs.
The serving size of cereal is usually in cups.
 How many ounces is a serving of meat?
 Answer: 3 ounces or the size of a deck of cards.
 Portion Distortion: Generally we view serving sizes incorrectly. We
pour ourselves a bowl of chips and assume it’s the correct serving
size.
 Size Matters! Depending on the size of the bowl or plate we
see portion sizes differently.
 According to research, people serve themselves and eat
more food from large plates and/or bowls, than from smaller
ones.
 Do you think those who ate off the large plates or bowls felt more,
less, or equally full compared to those who ate off the smaller
ones? Answer: They felt equally full.
Lesson Tip
Bring real food
to share and
to serve using
measure
portion sizes.
Closing:
Portion sizes can impact how much food we eat or don’t eat. Be
portion wise and mindful of what you are eating
Challenge:
Have participants make one goal on reducing their portion sizes. For example: using smaller
plates at meals, counting or using measuring utensils for serving food, not eating while watching
TV.
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