Muffin Nation - Expanding Portion Sizes in America

Wednesday October 24, 2007

Food is getting bigger. Americans are getting bigger, too, according to recent statistics. Is there a correlation? It seems like it to me. Back when I was a kid, in the 1960's, a muffin was a small breakfast treat, usually home baked. A homemade blueberry muffin, using a regular-sized muffin tin, is about 100 calories and 6 grams of fat, depending on the recipe. It's about the size of a tennis ball.

Over the decades, the trend has been towards bigger and bigger baked goods. Bagels have grown to twice their size. Cookies are becoming Frisbees. Individual servings of brownies and cakes have expanded to the size of bricks.

Why is this happening? What can we do about it? And most importantly, how do we fight the giant muffin?

The answers to these questions and more can be found here...