I thought this article eye-opening and worthy of sharing. It validates the very reason Livliga was created. Livliga is the mindful choice for right-sizing our world and the portions we serve up in our homes.
By Cass R. Sunstein -
Feb 12, 2013
Almost 70 percent of Americans have
been overweight or obese in recent years, and more than 78
million people in the country have been counted as
obese.
The problem has many sources, but one of them is obvious:
increased portion sizes. We have a lot of evidence that people
will eat whatever is put in front of them, even if they aren’t
hungry. As portion sizes expand, waistlines expand as well.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, the average U.S. restaurant meal is more than five
times larger than it was in the 1950s. The average hamburger,
once less than 4 ounces, is now more than 12 ounces. The average
order of French fries, once less than 3 ounces, is now more than
6 ounces. There is a clear correlation between increases in
portion sizes and increases in obesity.
That correlation helps explain why obesity has been more
prevalent in the
U.S. than in France. The French eat high-
calorie food, but their portion sizes are smaller. In
supermarkets and restaurants, and in portion sizes recommended
in cookbooks, Americans are given significantly bigger servings.
Even at McDonald’s, where we might expect identical sizes,
servings of soda and French fries have been found to be larger
in Philadelphia than in Paris.
Mindless Eating
Brian Wansink, a Cornell University professor of consumer
behavior, helps to explain why portion sizes have such a large
effect. He finds that much of our eating is
mindless or
automatic in that we tend to eat whatever is in front of us. If
you are given a half-pound bag of M&M’s, chances are that you
will eat about half as much as you will if you are given a one-
pound bag. People who receive large bowls of ice cream eat a lot
more than those who get small bowls.
In one of Wansink’s fiendish experiments, people were
provided with a large bowl of Campbell’s tomato soup and told to
eat as much as they liked. Unbeknownst to them, the soup bowls
were engineered to refill themselves (with empty bottoms
connected to machinery beneath the table). No matter how much
soup the subjects ate, the bowl never emptied. The result? Soup
consumption skyrocketed. Many people just kept eating until the
experiment was ended.
The good news is that once we isolate the sources of
excessive eating, we will be able to identify potential
solutions. Google Inc.
found that its New York cafeteria, which
offered a lot of high-calorie items, was producing a lot of
unwanted pounds. In response to employee complaints, it
initiated changes to nudge people toward healthier choices.
Large plates and takeout containers were exchanged for smaller
sizes, and employees were encouraged to eat less with a sign
stating, “People who take big plates tend to eat more.”
The redesigned cafeteria took a number of smart steps to
make healthy choices simpler and more convenient (and to make
less healthy choices less so). As a result, it helped to produce
big reductions in both calories and fat consumed from candy.
A striking feature of the Google initiative was that
employees were grateful for the nudges. There is reason to think
that many consumers would respond the same way. In a series of
studies, researchers told fast-food servers to ask customers
whether they wanted to
“downsize” their high-calorie side
dishes. A substantial number (from 14 percent to 33 percent of
those served) consistently agreed to do so. Strikingly, they
accepted the offer whether or not they were offered a nominal 25
cent discount. Their total calorie consumption was reduced, on
average, by more than 200.
Demanding Less
Evidence is increasing that lower-calorie servings can be
good for business. One reason is consumer demand. Many
customers
like, and reward, restaurants that provide light options; an
easy way to provide such options is to cut portion sizes.
Another reason is the increasing practice, often undertaken
voluntarily and eventually to be required by the Affordable Care
Act, of posting calorie counts on menus. Customers can be
surprised to see just how many calories come from the standard
portions of their favorite meals. They may not want to switch to
a meal they enjoy less, but a smaller portion may suit them just
fine. (Parents and dieters, please take note.)
The broader lesson is that obesity levels, in the U.S. and
elsewhere, are hardly inevitable. They are a product of the
social context in which people’s choices are made. With careful
attention to the subtle social cues that lead to excessive
eating, we should be able to make a real dent in a serious
public health problem.
(
Cass R. Sunstein, the Felix Frankfurter professor of law
at Harvard University, is a Bloomberg View columnist. He is the
former administrator of the White House Office of Information
and Regulatory Affairs, the co-author of “
Nudge” and author of
“Simpler: The Future of Government,” to be published in April.
The opinions expressed are his own.)
To contact the writer of this article:
Cass R. Sunstein at csunstei@law.harvard.edu.
