It's no surprise North Americans are getting more overweight and obese. Some will point to sugar as the culprit. Others cite inactivity as the problem. While both of these could play roles in our expanding waist lines there's no denying we're eating larger portions than in previous years. So why does this happen? Why are we eating larger portions? A review of the research identifies two reasons (1). The first is that we seek value for food. We look get more in return for our financial investment. Think of many times people opt to super-size a combo meal at a fast food restaurant. It's not that the portion of fries and drink that normally accompanies a meal is insufficient. It's more of a case that for a nominal increase in price you get substantially more food. You'd be stupid not to, right? There's no denying portion sizes have increased over the years. The other reason that we are eating larger portions is due to portion distortion. We have been exposed to such large portions of food that we have been conditioned to recognize these as normal. In the marketplace we are offered portions that are 3-4 times what a standard portion should be. But the public perception is that is these amplified portions are the standard. No one bats an eye when we are over served. If we were to go the other way and were served a standard portion, one at 1/3 to 1/4 normal market offerings, we'd cry foul and the restaurateur would hear about it. Another study looked at how the size and freshness affected how much popcorn we eat (2). What they found when given a small versus a large tub of stale popcorn, subjects ate 34% more when they had a large tub. Even though the...