PRESCRIPTIONS
Eat less, avoid portion distortion

By Amy Tousman

Q.With so many people trying to lose weight, why are restaurant portions and bags of snack foods so large?

A. Overproduction of ingredients used for making snack foods, burgers, fries and sodas makes these foods inexpensive.

The January 2004 issue of Consumer Reports magazine reported that the glut of cheap, high-calorie food is partially financed by our tax dollars.

Approximately $20 billion of our taxes are spent on farm subsidies for rice, soybeans, sugar, wheat and corn. These crops are used in many snack foods, sodas and fast foods. Meanwhile, no subsidy program exists for fruits and vegetables.

Farm subsidies originally were designed to keep prices reasonable for farm products. Farmers were paid not to overproduce crops. Nowadays farmers are paid for all subsidized crops grown. If the market price drops, government subsidy payments make up the difference. With a guaranteed price for their products, farmers produce as much as they can. Oversupply keeps prices low.

Restaurants and snack-food manufacturers have increased profits by charging just pennies more for a substantially larger sized portion. Food accounts for only 20 percent of restaurant costs. Labor and overhead costs stay the same regardless of portion size.

Corn is often used to produce cheap, high-calorie foods. Corn chips, tacos and the oil that goes into deep-fat fryers are made from corn. Corn is fed to cattle and chickens, and their meat supplies the fast food industry.

Corn is also in the high-fructose corn syrup used to sweeten soft drinks.

Cheap prices have helped increase soft drink consumption. Sodas were sold in six-ounce bottles in the 1950s. Most of today's bottles hold 20 ounces. According to the label, there are two servings in this size bottle. The whole bottle contains 16 teaspoons of sugar.

To help avoid portion distortion:

• Order the child's size, mini plate or smallest available portion. Thirty years ago, these amounts were often considered the "regular" size.
• Order salads with meals. This helps you control your consumption of meat, rice or fries.
• If portions are large, bring home half for tomorrow's lunch.
• Limit sugared sodas, juice drinks and fruit punch.
• Cook at home. Generally, more calories are consumed when eating out.
• Read labels and stick to the serving sizes listed on the labels.

The few cents you save when buying super-size portions is not worth the cost to your health.

Amy Tousman is a registered dietitian with the Health Education Center of Straub Clinic and Hospital. Hawai'i experts in traditional medicine, naturopathic medicine and diet take turns writing the Prescriptions column. Send your questions to: Prescriptions, Island Life, The Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802; fax 535-8170; islandlife@honoluluadvertiser.com. This column is not intended to provide medical advice.