Junk food portions are bigger... and so are we!
IT’S no wonder our waistlines are expanding. New research from The George Institute for Global Health has revealed Australians are eating ever-bigger portions of foods laden in fat, sugar and salt.
Researchers compared data from 1995 to 2012 and found portion sizes for a large proportion of Australia’s most commonly consumed junk foods had risen significantly.
Pizza and cake stood out for being the worst offenders, recording a 66% increase in the average number of kilojoules consumed in one sitting. A typical portion of sausage, cereal bar, processed meat, ice cream and wine also increased in size.
Dr Miaobing Zheng, of The George Institute for Global Health, said the results were worrying given that discretionary foods contribute about a third of Australia’s daily energy intake.
“Over the past two decades we found that foods which provide very little nutritional benefit have surged in size, and this is helping to fuel Australia’s obesity epidemic,” Dr Zheng said.
She added: “We know that people often under report the amount of food and drink they consume, especially if they consider them ‘bad‘ foods. So the true picture of what Australians are eating could be much worse.”
The team examined data from two different Australia-wide surveys – the 1995 National Nutrition Survey and the 2011–12 National Nutrition Physical Activity Survey.
Participants were asked to record everything they ate in a 24-hour period and were given photos and measuring guides to help them accurately asses the size of their portions.