Third of us fail to eat right food portion size

One in three consumers finds it difficult to manage portion sizes and most think it is only relevant to dieters, it has emerged.

A Safefood study, led by a team from the University of Ulster, found nutrition claims like ‘low fat’ or ‘reduced fat’ may also be contributing to weight gain.

They found many people were assuming that the products making the fat content claims were lower in calories than they really were and were eating larger portions.

Many of the consumers said they felt portion sizes did not apply to treats.

Safefood director of human health and nutrition, Dr Cliodhna Foley-Nolan, said while all of us were now familiar with the idea of healthy eating, we were probably less familiar with healthy portion sizes.

“With two in three adults overweight or obese, the issue of portion size is relevant to all of us and we need to cut down on the portions we’re eating of most foods,” she said. “Eating an extra 100 calories every day can lead to weight gain of 4.5kg in a year and this can easily happen.”

Safefood points out that practical items, like measuring cups and spoons, were the preferred measuring aids and should be promoted.