A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an online community offering information on health related issues, has found that averaged sized meals have grown in size by three, four or even six times in the last 60 years.
The averaged sized soft drink being served in commercial properties across the UK is now six times larger that it was 60 years ago and a burger and a portion of fries have also tripled in size during the same timeframe. This equates to 35 fluid ounces (fl oz) extra in fizzy drinks, 8.1 extra ounces (oz) of burger and 4.3 oz extra fries per meal.
Chocolate bars have also gained a few pounds in the last century. They are now 1,233 per cent bigger than they were in the 1900’s. So is it any wonder that as a nation we have ever-expanding waistlines?
According to research conducted by CDC, the average man is 26 pounds heavier today than in the 1950’s. Women have a slightly smaller gap of 24.5 pounds heavier, but their waistlines have grown by an average of six inches according to research by Saga.
In the 1950’s, an average woman’s waistline was 28 inches, but today the average is 34 inches. The growing portion sizes can be partially to blame, but also the lifestyle changes that women have faced over the last century will have played a major role.
During the 1950’s a woman’s place was in the house; cleaning, cooking and looking after the children. On average, 1,000 calories could be burned off by doing housework, which would have helped them to keep their trim figures. But today, many women choose to go out to work, often finding themselves sitting at an office desk in front of a computer for hours on end – moving the mouse and typing would be lucky to burn off a few calories, if any.
Speaking of the lifestyle differences, Dr Ros Altmann, Director General at Saga, said: “When you think of the time that women had to spend cleaning and cooking, life is so much easier now. Although obviously that has contributed to the bigger waistlines.”
Do you think commercial property portion sizes are completely to blame for people’s growing waistlines or do you think people themselves should take some blame for what they put inside their own bodies? Or perhaps lifestyle changes in the last 60 years have had a bigger impact on people’s waistlines than we first thought?
