The breads, cereals and potato food group: perceptions of average portions in Ireland

Abstract

Current healthy eating guidelines recommend at least six servings from the breads, cereals and potato group of the food pyramid, depending on energy requirements (age, gender and activity levels) (1). However, there is evidence that the rise in obesity is occurring in parallel with consumption of larger portion sizes (2). Differences in size between portions that are normally consumed and those that are recommended may confuse individuals who are attempting to follow healthy eating guidelines. The aim of the present study was to determine 'what makes the most sense' to consumers in terms of 'average portion size' for foods within the breads, cereals and potato group. A standardised questionnaire designed to assess preferences and understanding of portion size was administered to 1011 respondents surveyed at two large Dublin supermarkets. Two food displays were created as a visual aid to help respondents provide answers to the questionnaire: one contained smaller portion sizes, based on Irish and UK portion sizes data (3) ; the other contained larger portions of the same foods modelled on Australian portion sizes (4). The energy content ranged between 293 and 523 kJ (70 and 125 kcal) for the smaller display and between 460 and 912 kJ (110 and 218 kcal) for the larger display. The two supermarkets represented both an advantaged and a disadvantaged socioeconomic area. A wide range of adult age groups were surveyed and 72 % were female. SPSS (version 14.0; SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) was used to analyse the data (c 2).

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“…Consumers also pointed out that it was easy to limit portion sizes of foods that were ‘filling’, such as porridge or mashed potatoes, while this was much more difficult for foods that were not ‘filling’, such as rice or muesli. Some consumers (mainly men) described portions of these latter foods that were much bigger than the range of portions we developed up to the limit of 921 kJ (220 kcal) ( 13 , 17 ) .…”

“…The same two food displays were used to seek feedback from over 1000 adult shoppers in advantaged and disadvantaged areas of Dublin. Over three quarters of shoppers preferred the second option of a range of portion sizes because these were closer to the portions they considered ‘average’ for the different types of food in this group ( 13 , 17 ) . Many consumers suggested that the option where all portions provided approximately 418 kJ (100 kcal) consisted of ‘parts of a portion’ that would possibly be appropriate for children but not for adults ( 18 ) .…”

“…Two food displays were developed outlining the two different approaches to portion sizes for carbohydrate foods and these were used to seek feedback from dieticians and nutritionists on which of the two food displays best represented average portion sizes. There was a unanimous agreement that the second option where a range of portion sizes were used (see Table 2 ) made most sense because people do not eat ‘bits and pieces’ of whole foods ( 13 , 17 ) . The same two food displays were used to seek feedback from over 1000 adult shoppers in advantaged and disadvantaged areas of Dublin.…”