The Meaning of Size

When I give my lecture on serving sizes v. portion sizes in my Psychology of Eating class, the students are always amazed. They had no idea what they were eating was more than a serving because they thought if fit on the plate, then they were good to go.

Let’s get the definitions out of the way here: A serving is a standard unit of measurement, or a set amount of food, usually recommended by the USDA. A portion is what you eat in one sitting. So let’s take ramen noodles—a common staple for my students as they’re cheap. One package of ramen noodles is actually 2 servings, but most students eat the whole package in one sitting (so their portion is actually 2 servings or twice the amount recommended on the package as an appropriate meal size). Similarly, most bagels these days (one portion) actually represent 2-3 servings of your daily grain allotment.

Portion sizes began to increase in the 1970s, which is also when our plate sizes began to increase. Bet you didn’t know that dinner plates used to be 9 inches, whereas most are now 12 inches in diameter or more. Not surprisingly, when we are served the same amount of food on a 12-inch plate we eat more of that food than when it is served on a 9-inch plate and of course, a 12-inch plate allows for more food to be served than a 9-inch plate. Who here was raised in a clean your plate type of household? Yeah, me too.

The interesting thing to me about this is not our nation’s obesity crisis, which makes complete sense when we’re eating a lot more and less active than we were 100 years ago. What I find fascinating is that as our plate and portions sizes increased, our “ideal body image” began to decrease, at least for women. (Men, on the other hand, are being told to be increasingly more muscular—I’ll talk about that more next time.)

It’s time for a little history of body image lesson. Marilyn Monroe, the sexual icon of the 1950s, would be “fat” by today’s standards at 5’5”, 120 pounds, wearing a size 16. Then came Twiggy—as her name implies, looking like a twig (thin with no curves)—who was all the rage in the 1960s. (It’s also when Weight Watchers was founded.) The 1970s favored a slightly heavier figure—still slim, but slim and toned (think Farrah Fawcett). However, due to the death of singer Karen Carpenter, this is also when anorexia nervosa came to the attention of the media—and women—everywhere. The 1980s was much the same, as the fitness craze featured the slim but toned Jane Fonda. At the same time, Playboy models and supermodels were becoming increasingly thinner (think Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, and Claudia Schiffer). The 1990s took the thin craze to new heights when supermodel Kate Moss took over as the “ideal” female. The 2000s saw the return of the fitness craze and the slim but toned look for women in the U.S. Victoria’s Secret (think Giselle Bundchen and Heidi Klum) as the “ideal” started to include washboard abs or a 6-pack for both men and women. As we are only halfway through the 2010s, it will be interesting to see how this decade unfolds in terms of body image standards.

So where does the “average” American female fit in here? Regardless of the “ideal” body image presented to females in the media, women’s BMIs have been increasing over time. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the average BMI for American women was 24.9 in the 1960s, 25.1 in the 1970s, 26.6 in the 1980s and 28.2 in the late 80s/early 90s. The most recent data from the CDC indicates this number is now up to 28.7.

Does anyone else see a problem here? It the grass is always greener on the other side phenomenon. With the average American model meeting the criteria for anorexia nervosa and the average American female being classified as overweight, no wonder we are seeing a rise in body dissatisfaction and eating disorders as women hit middle age (40s to 60s).

So what can we do about it? Yes, we can eat less and exercise more, but I’m really talking about the discrepancy between the “ideal” and “normal” images presented to us in the media.

1. Get educated – If you’ve never watched Dove’s Evolution video, get on YouTube and watch it. Even celebrities are starting to come out against Photoshop and the unrealistic images portrayed in the media (e.g., Cindy Crawford’s unretouched photos that just hit the internet).
2. Get happy with yourself – you are so much more than what you look like. Stop comparing yourself to media images or other people. You are uniquely you and have gifts and talents like no one else on the planet. Celebrate that instead of looking for perceived flaws.
3. Be a role model – have kids in your life? They learn more from what you do than what you say. If they see you comparing yourself to media images or talking about being fat, they will likely start to do the same. So think before you speak if you around impressionable children.
4. Take a stand – let others know how you feel. Tell them that this has to stop. Share your passions with them.

How has the Seesaw of Portion Distortion and Body Size over Time affected you? We want to know!