Portion Distortion

According to the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers from New York University compared portion sizes to federal standards and found that most marketplace portions exceed standard sizes by as much as eight times. The researchers also found that portion sizes of many foods and beverages nowadays are two to five times larger then when the item first hit the market. Below you will find some common food examples and their actual serving size.


3 oz. cooked meat: the size of a deck of cards	3 oz. fish: the size of a checkbook	1 oz. meat: the size of a matchbox

1 baseball: 1 fruit or 1 cup of chopped raw vegetables	4 stacked dice: 1½ oz. of low-fat or nonfat cheese	1 tennis ball: 1 cup of pasta or a medium apple

1 ping pong ball: 2 Tbsp. of peanut butter	quarter in diameter: 1 teaspoon of oil	hockey puck: average bagel