If there is one word to describe the United States in a nutshell, it is “more.” As Americans, we simply expect excess to come naturally. And the sad truth is that it almost always does. Whether it is in the form of money, material possessions, fame, power, plastic surgery, general physical enhancements or stature: the American people are used to getting more and more and not worrying about the effects of excess. When it comes to food, this notion of intrinsic exuberance is especially important in our perpetually growing global population.
Although where our food is coming from and how it is processed are undoubtedly crucial to our health and well-being, most central to the fight against excess is controlling portion size. As a culture obsessed with the notion of getting more and more, consuming small portions of food is not a strength of the American people. Serving size labels on the backs of our packaged foods do little to educate us or sway our hungry appetites, and we spend more time on the question of what we eat than how much of it we should be eating. Common sense says that moderation is key to a healthy lifestyle. But we have no real barometer for moderation anymore because serving size labels are increasingly misleading. For example, foods like cereals, grains and even fruits and vegetables have ridiculously small suggested serving sizes compared with what is considered “normal” to consume. Filling a bowl halfway with cereal every morning may seem reasonable, but you could be consuming just as many calories in a meal from McDonalds. Most serving size labels offer statistics for a quarter or a third of a bowl, which can be an unsatisfying meal, causing one to search elsewhere for a quick sugar fix.
A huge problem that is easily corrected when it comes to eating in excess is the size of the plates and bowls we use to serve our food. As our country has consistently grown more and more obese throughout the years, so has the diameter of our kitchenware. In 1960, the typical diameter of a dinner plate was seven to nine inches. Nowadays, dinner plates sold in home goods stores and used in our kitchens and restaurants measure around 13 inches — a 36 percent increase in size. By comparison, dinner plates in Europe have consistently stayed around nine inches. Interestingly, obesity is not such an epidemic in Europe. Some may feel it is a leap to correlate plate size with overeating, but food psychologists have found that we feel the need to completely fill the plate set in front of us in order to feel content. Our portion sizes have increased along with our plate sizes because, although we may feel full, it is hard to stop eating when our eyes see leftover food on the plate.
Although the amount of work required to solve these issues increases with the severity of the health issues they cause, simple changes like accurately labeling serving sizes and decreasing plate measurements will make a huge difference in the current lifestyle of excess. But the subconscious beliefs behind why we always need “more” take precedence over everything else. It is not until we correct these mental issues that any actual physical change can occur.