How to Control Portion Sizes for the Whole Family?

Imagine it’s Sunday lunch time and the whole family is gathered around the dining table. Food is already served. Can you recall how much food each member of your family, from the smallest to the eldest would have on their plate? Would it be the same for the toddler and the grandma?

Many families face a problem which they can’t crack. When majority of the meals are home cooked, reasonably balanced and dessert is only served occasionally, but the children seem to have weight management issues, you’d like to look into how much they eat as opposed how much food they need for their activity levels.
​
In this blog post, we’ll discuss what the best methods are to keep the protion sizes in check for the whole family.

The Food Pyramid Method

Foods that are rich in the same type of nutrients (protein, fat, vitamins, etc) are grouped together. There are six groups. Healthy eating is all about choosing the right amounts of foods from each group.
​
The shape of the Food Pyramid shows the types of foods people need to eat most according to various nutrition organsations for healthy eating. The food groups at the bottom of the Food Pyramid are biggest because people are meant to choose more foods from these groups for a healthy balance of essential nutrients.

Using this method require a little more work and organisation around meals in the family.

Serving Sizes

Bread, cereal, rice

• 1 serving= 1 slice of bread or 1 small bread roll or 30g of cereal (small bowl) or 1 medium potato

Fruit and veg

• 1 serving = 1 medium sized fresh fruit (apple, orange, etc.), 2 tablespoons of vegetables

Milk, cheese and yoghurt

• 1 serving = 1 glass of full fat milk (1/3 pint of milk), matchbox sized piece of cheese (1oz)

Meat, fish and other protein

• 1 serving = small pork or lamp chop, 2 slices of roast or boiled meat, 2 slices of chicken or turkey, medium fillet of fish, 2 eggs, 6 tablespoons of baked beans, peas lentils.

Fat, spreads and oils

• Use sparingly as they’re high calorie foods. 

Food for young children (1-5 years)

According to Health Service Executive, by the age of 1 year your child should eat a variety of food, should be able to drink from a lidless beaker and will need to drink 1 pint of full fat milk a day. Any more than that will carry the risk of reducing their appetite. They should have three meals per day with healthy snacks in between.

Bread , Cereals and Potato = Starchy Carboydrates

• 1-3 yrs: 4 servings
• 3-5 yrs: 4-6+ servings

Active children will need more servings from this group for energy than sedentary kids.

Fruit and Vegetables

• 1-3 yrs: 2-4 servings
• 3-4 yrs: 4 or more servings
• 5 yrs: 5 servings

Milk, cheese and yoghurt

• 1-5 yrs: 3 servings

Important: Low fat milk is not suitable for children under the age of 2 years and skimmed milk is not suitable for children under the age of 5 years. Only introduce them after making sure your child has a balanced diet and is a good eater.

Meat, fish and other protein sources

• 1-3 yrs: 2 small servings
• 3-5yrs: 2 servings

Processed meat products like chicken nuggets, fish fingers or sausages are lower in protein and often higher in fat and should not be regular part of your child’s diet.

​Top Shelf of the Food Pyramid – Sweets, biscuit, cakes, etc.
These foods shouldn’t be part of your child’s daily diet as they are high in calories but low in nutrients and will reduce appetite for more nutritious food. Sugary food and drink are not good for the teeth either.

Kids and Young Teens
​(5-13yrs)

Breads, Cereals, etc.

• Boys: 3-5 servings
• Girls: 3-4 servings

Fruit and Vegetables

• 5 servings

​Milk, Yoghurt and Cheese

• 3-5 servings

Meat, etc

• 1 main and 1 light meal

Fats and Oils

• sparingly

Other foods

• not too much, not too often

Older Teens
​(14-18yrs)

Breads, Cereals, Rice, etc.

• Active boys / girls: 5-7 / 4 servings
• Sedentary boys / girls: 4-5 / 3 servings

Fruit and Veg

• Boys 5-6 servings
• Girls 5 servings

Milk, Yoghurt and Cheese

• 5 servings

Meat and other protein

• 1 main meal, 1-2 light meals

Fats and Oils

• sparingly

Other foods

• not too much, not too often

Adults (19-50yrs)

Breads, Cereals, Rice, etc.

• Active men / women: 5-7 / 4-5 servings
• Sedentary men / women: 4-6 / 3-4 servings

Fruit and Veg

• men 5-7, women 5-6

Milk, Yoghurt and Cheese

• ​men 3-5 / women 3 servings

Meat and protein

• Main meal 1, light meal 1-2

Fats and Oils

• ​sparingly

Other foods

• ​not too much, not too often

Older Adults (51+)

Breads, Cereals, Rice, etc.

• Active men / women: 4-5 / 3-4 servings
• Sedentary men / women: 4 / 3 servings

Fruit and Veg:

• ​5 servings

Milk, Yoghurt and Cheese

• 3 servings

Meat and protein

• Main meal 1, light meal 1

Fats and Oils

• sparingly

Other foods 

• ​not too much, not too often

Hands-On Nutrition for Kids and Adults

Now, the above method might seem a little too complicated: having to keep seving sizes in mind for each age group and organise the food of the whole family accordingly is achievable when all meals are made and consumed at home but becomes extremely challenging whe eating out, in school or any events. God news there is a simple way to keep the portions in check and you only need your (or the child's) hand which is convenientl is always with you or them.

According to Precision Nutrition because the size of our palm grows with us gradually into adulthood and it’s in proportion with our other body measurements, it can be used as a good, always on hand help for portion size. This can come especially “handy” when eating out. Please note the method is not suitable for infants’ solid food portion size, but can be used for young kids, teens and adults as well.

Boys and men, especially when active can double up on the amount of each nutrient compared to the girls and women with similar activity levels. You will need to experiment with this method flexibly to find a balance for you and your kids. Ideally you don’t want to feel hungry very often, but equally shouldn’t feel full always either.

How to use your hand for each food group?

Each of your meal should contain a healthy balance of protein, carbohydrate and fat rich foods and vegetables. Girls and women include 1 portion, whilst boys and men should aim for 2 portions of each nutrient. Have 3-4 meals and 1-2 snacks of fruits, vegetable sticks and nuts a day.

Portion size of each nutrient

Meat and protein

• size of the palm​

Starchy carbs like bread, potato and rice

• ​a cupped hand size

Vegetables

• fist size

Fats and oils

• size of a thumb

​As you can see there is more than one way of measuring and controlling the portion sizes and it’s especially important to align these with the needs of the body at different stages of life. The first step is however to assess your and your family’s current nutrition habits and identify the type of meals or nutrients that your child may be having in excess before you can change those habits.