rates of obesity in this country have been on the rise for decades. That's a concern for

public health officials because being above a certain weight can raise the risk of health

problems, including cancer, heart disease,

joint pain, and mobility problems. Exactly why we are, on average, larger than Americans a

couple of generations ago, is probably attributable to many factors. But here's something

that caught my attention. The average size of many commercially sold food items in this country

has increased by as much as 138% since the 1970s.

From KERA in Dallas, this is Think. I'm Chris Boyd.

Bagels used to weigh about two ounces. Now they tip the scale at a quarter of a pound. And that's before we pile on the extra cream cheese or peanut

butter or whatever to make them taste good. The typical serving of spaghetti and meatballs at a

restaurant has doubled to a full pound. So even if we're not finishing everything on our plates,

we are sort of primed to eat more than we did in the past. And if we do leave some bites behind,

there's the question of whether that good food gets saved for later or dumped into the trash where it contributes to a whole other set of problems.

But good news, my guest has found a confluence of factors that might make us receptive to shrinking portions in the food we get from restaurants or in packages.

And businesses looking at their

bottom lines are also interested in offering more choices in portion size to accommodate those of us

who don't need or want quite so much food in a single sitting. Hank Cardello is chair of the

Portion Balance Coalition and Executive Director of the Leadership Solutions for Health and Prosperity

program at Georgetown University's Business for Impact, which produced a report and Executive Director of the Leadership Solutions for Health and Prosperity Program

at Georgetown University's Business for Impact,

which produced a report called The Power of Portions.

You can find and read the whole thing online.

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