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tackling obesity
How to stop weight gain? Get a picture of what food portions look like
A teenager from Cork is recommending the government provide pictures of one portion meals.
A TRANSITION YEAR student has a pretty clever idea on how to educate people about how much they should eat – all you need is a picture.
Tony O’Halloran from Coláiste an Spioraid Naoimh in Co Cork look at portion sizes as part of a Young Scientist Project and compared those answers to what people actually eat to what they should be eating.
He also contacted cereal manufacturers, supermarkets, health experts and government departments to see what could be done to tackle the issue of portion sizes.
He found that only 12% of people base their portions on the recommended amount, and that people think the recommended portion for pasta is 248% the actual recommended.
What’s one portion?
Tony found out through talking with experts like Dr Carol Ní Chaoimh, a researcher on human nutrition in University College Cork, that people weren’t aware of what one portion looked like.
Medical Dietitian at Cork University Hospital Fionnuala Muldoon told Tony that dietitians like to use analogies such as “a palm of your hand” for meat and “a matchbox-sized slice” for cheese to help people understand portions better.
Tony had a few recommendations for us based on his interviews with experts, and from reading studies and reports:
- Portions should be given in the form of an image as well as in grams/ml as three quarters of those surveyed said it would be easier to understand.
- Every household in the country should have a 200ml plastic cup which they could use to measure portions.
- Everyone in the country should try weigh out their portions at least once as this will give them a better understanding of portions in the long run.
He also has some advice for the government, which as minister of state for health promotion Marcella Corcoran Kennedy went to meet him today, we’re sure they’re going to take seriously.
“Ultimately,” Tony says in his conclusion, “Everyone has the responsibility to educate themselves.
“But as a nation we must take steps to make it easier for people to do just this.”
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