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For: Week of June 30, 2003

By: Linda K. Bowman, Ext. Agt. IV - Family & Consumer Sciences

Santa Rosa County Extension Service

Telephone: 850/623-3868 or 939-1259, ext. 1360

Heaping Helpings Encourage Overeating

Parents who avoid piling oversized portions on children’s plates could be helping their pint-size diners avoid super-sized appetites and whopper waistlines.

A recent study by the Children’s Nutrition Research Center behavioral nutrition scientist Dr. Jennifer Fisher has found that portion size can affect how much some kids eat.

Preschoolers in the study ate an average of 25 percent more macaroni and cheese when the lunchtime serving was doubled.

Since eating more mac-and-cheese didn’t curb the youngsters’ appetites for other foods, the average lunchtime calorie counts jumped 15 percent on days when the entree was super-sized.

The power of large portions to encourage overeating among young children is a warning flag. Not only do today’s families eat out and take-out more often than in the past, but restaurant, beverage, and snack food portions keep getting bigger. Before blaming your local restaurateur for your family’s growing waistlines, take an honest look at how you “value” dining out experiences. According to the National Restaurant Association’s Dinner Decision Making study. Most consumers rank portion size as one of the 10 “hallmarks of a great place.”

Yet not all children responded the same when served heaping helpings. While some ate as much as 60 to 80 percent more when portions were super-sized, others ate about the same amount regardless of the portion size served.

The children most responsive to large portions were also those who consumed the greatest amount of snack foods in the absence of hunger during another phase of the study. It was found that overeaters tended to consume their extra calories not be eating faster, but by taking bigger bites.

The study findings suggest a link between an increased susceptibility to external eating cues like super-sized portions and a diminished ability to recognize or respond to internal satiety cues.

Large portions seem to lose power to promote overeating when children are allowed to serve themselves. The amount the children served themselves and ate mirrored the amount they typically consumed on days when single size entrees were served.

“Young children are not immune to the power of large portions,

according to Fisher. “But simple mealtime strategies like encouraging “small bites” and serving family-style meals can help kids avoid the temptation to overeat.” Some of the health implications of obesity are:

• Approximately 13% of children (ages 6-11) and 14% of adolescents (ages 12-19) are obese.

• Excess weight in childhood and adolescence has been found to predict overweight adults.

• Among boys, the prevalence of obesity tripled in nearly 25 years and increased more than two and half times for girls.

• African American, Hispanic American, and Native American children and adolescents have particularly high obesity rates.

• Prevalence of being overweight is reported to be significantly higher in children and adolescents with moderate to severe asthma.

• Persistently elevated blood pressure levels have been found to occur about 9 times more frequently among obese children and adolescents (ages 5-18) than in non-obesity.

• Girls who develop a negative body image are at a greater risk for subsequent development eating disorders. Overweight children and adolescents report negative assumptions made about them by others.

• Sleep apnea, the absence of breathing during sleep, occurs in about 7% of children with obesity. Deficits in logical thinking are common in children with obesity and sleep apnea.

For further information contact: Linda Bowman, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Agent, The University of Florida--Santa Rosa County Cooperative Extension Service--IFAS, at (850)623-3868 or (850)939-1259, Ext. 1360 for south county residents, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. weekdays. Hearing-impaired individuals may call Santa Rosa County Emergency Management Service at 983-5373 (TDD).