The following is a research proposal for a study that I am currently working on. I am still in the process of surveying individuals and gathering data. I plan to update the findings and information in the following months...

Awareness of Nutritional Portion Size Among Adults

By

Justin Nguyen

University of South Alabama

HS563

Spring 2012

Introduction

When it comes to meal portion sizes, many studies have shown that individuals take in more energy (kcals) than necessary; often without even knowing (Wansink & Ittersum, 2007); (Ello-Martin, Ledikwe & Rolls , 2005). It is important for individuals to understand what amount of food they should be consuming, as overeating can lead to a host of diseases and health related issues as well as general reduced quality of life (Diliberti, Bordi, Conklin, Roe & Rolls, 2004). Furthermore, once the individual knows how many calories he or she should be taking in, it is then important that he or she also grasps proper portion sizing of the various food groups. This allows the individual to have detailed knowledge of not only general caloric recommendations, but what type/qualities of the fuels they consume. There are currently few studies that look into the awareness of recommended food group portion sizing.

The importance behind such a study is that the current problem of obesity in the U.S. is overeating. However, some researchers have found that adults and children do not meet food group portion recommendations. Essentially, people aren’t eating enough of the right things, yet are still taking in too much energy (kcals) (Venter, 2008); (Brady, Lindquist, Herd & Goran , 2000). Through this study, the researcher aims to find the awareness levels of recommended food group portions among normal adults. This information can help further nutrition education endeavours and lead researchers to better understand deficiencies or excesses among the normal adult population.

Literature Review

As previously mentioned, much of the current research focuses around studying energy intake and overeating. Though this is important, as a majority of the U.S. population is currently obese, the next logical and more detailed step is to study “what” individuals consume (Ello-Martin, Ledikwe & Rolls , 2005). There are a few studies that have researched this area. A study originally performed for the Healthy People 2000 objective found that only 24% of American adults were meeting the daily recommended servings of fruits and only 12% were meeting the recommended vegetable intakes (Krebs-Smith, Cook, Subar, Cleveland & Friday , 1995). A similar study interviewed avid health-food store and supplement users. These individuals were considered more educated on the recommended nutritional intakes. However, though 92% of the individuals understood the recommended portion of fruits that should be consumed, only 62% actually met that standard. Likewise, 47.3% had an understanding of how much vegetables they should be consuming, and yet only 12% were meeting that standard.

On the issue of obesity, Krebs-Smith and Ello-Martin (1995/2005) found that though individuals are overeating and are obese, they still fall short in the various nutritional portion recommendations. The study determined that it is most likely due to the individuals taking in more dairy and fats than vegetables and fruits. The researchers postulated that replacing those foods with lower energy vegetables and fruits can allow the individuals to eat just as much with much less energy intake (Krebs-Smith, Cook, Subar, Cleveland & Friday , 1995); (Ello-Martin, Ledikwe & Rolls , 2005).

Further, it was mentioned that there is a general lack of studies involving adult’s understanding and intake of proper nutritional portion sizes, however, there are a decent amount of studies that look into adolescents and children’s status. One such study found that only marginal percentages of adolescents and children were meeting all of the recommended food group’s portions (Brady, Lindquist, Herd, & Goran, 2000). Of the various food groups, the study found that the area that was highest met was the grains and fats and sugars areas (all of which are the high energy foods). Interestingly, the same study found that, among white children, a higher percentage met the dairy portion recommendations while a greater percentage of black children met the fruits recommendations (Brady, Lindquist, Herd, & Goran, 2000). However, both groups still feel short in every other category including the ones just stated.

Methods

Information will be gathered by way of a questionnaire survey. The survey will consist of age and demographic questions followed by questions about nutritional portion sizes. The projected sample size will be 75 adult individuals. The bulk of the sample group demographic will mainly consist of middle class college aged athletes and students, as well as some middle aged college sport coaches. Data will be compiled and examined using SPSS.

Results

The results are expected to show that a greater percentage of adults do not understand enough about the proper nutritional portion sizes. If any of the food groups are met at all, this researcher hypothesizes that it will be the vegetable and fruits sections. This hypothesis is based on relevant literature that has found large percentages of adults to understand the amounts of vegetables needed though they may not consume that amount.

Implications

This study will further the nutritional education field by sheading additional light on the general adult population’s grasp of what and how much they should be consuming. This information can then be used educate the population more effectively. With a properly educated population, obesity by can be reduced; as individuals better understand the things that go into their bodies. Further, by reducing obesity, disease also is reduced while general quality of life and health increase.

References

Venter, B. M. (2008). Use of dietary supplements. South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 21(4), 323-330. Retrieved from

Munoz, K. A., Krebs-Smith, S. M., Ballard-Barbash, R., & Cleveland, L. E. (1997). Food intakes of us children and adolescents compared with recommendations.Pediatrics: Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, 100(3), 323-329.

Wansink, B., & Ittersum, K. V. (2007). Portion size me: Downsizing our consumption norms. Journal of the American Dietetic Association , 1-4.

Brady, L. M., Lindquist, C. H., Herd, S. L., & Goran , M. I. (2000). Comparison of children's dietary intake patterns with us dietary guidelines. British Journal of Nutrition , (84), 361-367.

Ello-Martin, J. A., Ledikwe, J. H., & Rolls , B. J. (2005). The influence of food portion size and energy density on energy intake: implications for weight management. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 84(1), 236-241. Retrieved from http://www.ajcn.org/content/82/1/236S.short

Diliberti, N., Bordi, P. L., Conklin, M. T., Roe, L. S., & Rolls, B. J. (2004). Increased portion size leads to increased energy intake in a restaurant meal.Obesity Research, 12(3), 562-568. Retrieved from http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v12/n3/pdf/oby200464a.pdf

Krebs-Smith, S. M., Cook, A., Subar, A. F., Cleveland, L., & Friday , J. (1995). Us adults' fruit and vegetable intakes, 1989 to 1991: a revised baseline for the healthy people 2000 objective. American Journal of Public Health, 85(12), 1623-1629. Retrieved from http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.85.12.1623