Although the food intake : exercise ratio is an important consideration in weight, you can't blame super-sizing for obesity because it doesn't explain why some of us aren't tempted by quantity over quality. And you can't always blame the so-called "fat genes" either because generally if a whole family is obese, the pet dog is too - a strong indication of poor nutrition and too much macca-d's.

Healthy eating has to start in the home. Obesity in children is a form of child abuse. If parents are too lazy or too ignorant to feed their families properly, then education about nutrition will have to fall back onto the education system: it's as important as maths and english, yet I doubt it's given as much weight.

To compare foods and eating habits between France and the USA is really without great merit. Each country has there own culturally accepted foods. In the USA foods are highly processed, very sweet compared to other westernised foods, with high amounts of fructose, corn syrup and other sweeteners. Many of the additives in foods today are also a major contributor to obesity, (In the USA)for example pre-scraped carrots which last for more than a month in the fridge without discolouring or deteriorating would have had some human interference in the growth. Australia, alas is lagging not far behind. Many foods commonly used in Australia by the masses, now use artificial sweetening agents, and other agents rarely used before. The after-taste alone is enough to know there is aspartame, sorbitol or other sweeteners used.
I agree with the comments re the obestity situation with our children, but fear that even parents who feel they are feeding their children foods that they 'know' or are familiar with, and thought were ok in a normal diet, are now feeding them chemically enriched goodies. The parents who do not take an active role in selection of foods for their children are, unfortunately gaining in numbers.

Our kids are also not as active as they were 20 years ago

The author has a point about serving sizes though. And I suspect it may have something to do with the style of crockery that has been fashionable for a while now (although which way the relationship goes I do not know- is the crockery bigger because of the food or vice versa?)

For example, your standard "dinner setting" no longer has a small bowl for cereal/dessert, the bowl is now a large pasta bowl. Which is fine, but the eye does not "see" this as "extra large bowl" it sees it as "half empty bowl", so we fill it more.

Same with all those large, plain white plates. When everyone had lots of patterns around the edges, the plate seemed more "full"... now it seems we need more condiments to make the plate right.

Just my thoughts!

Thank you Barbara for the article

I think that an emphasis needs to be placed on exercise and this should be combated in schools - where kids spend a lot of time. The availability of the bad foods to the kids needs to be monitered by parents, teachers, and governments. It is an important issue that needs more attention.

Barbara

Thank you for your article. I am very doubtful however, that downsizing alone is the answer.

I changed our purchasing, cooking and eating habits some years ago.

First, I tackled the pantry and got rid of all packaged foods and most tinned foods. I was rigorous in checking for sugar content, fat content, colouring, favouring, preservatives and additives. There was not much left in the pantry when I had finished.

Second, I educated myself. I read most of Rosemary Stanton's books and took on board a new way of thinking about purchasing of food, and cooking of food. Out went most of the margarine and oil. I learned to have meat etc as the small portion and salads and vegetables as the larger portion. As a result, my husband and I have "gone off" meat to a large extent. Most of our meals are chicken - with all fat removed, and of course seafood.

We have never eaten take-away because neither of us can stand it.

I grow my own herbs and several vegetables and I only buy Australiian from our local market. I make chutneys, jams, salsa, low fat cakes.

Our diet is very healthy. I have developed a love for creative cooking, and I do not serve large portions - never have.

We don't eat sweets - except for homemade fruit salad.

I cook something different every night. My husband always says: "What country are we going to tonight?" Eating is just a minor part - it's all of the thinking and ritual that surrounds food which is important. It is a joyous occasion in our home.

Thanks to the other posters thus far - all of you have raised really good points.

Barbara - what is the value of comparing the US with France? Surely a comparison between Aussie and the US would be more useful - since so many Aussies are stupid enough to follow American trends.

Cheers
Kay

What does serving size have to do with anything? You buy food, you eat the food and then you arent hungry anymore. So you stop eating. If you're still hungry you eat some more food. What does serving size have to do with anything? It's wether you are full or not, not whether you perceive you're not hungry anymore because you ate a standard 'serving'. This is a clear case of over rationalisation. People are fat, therefore it must be the government's fault, so lets mandate for reduced serving sizes. Whatever. Stop providing free healthcare for people who are morbidly obese, there's an idea from left field for you. Tell parents to take some responsibility for their and their kids eating habits, another idea from left field.