Fill 'er up: Are you overeating? Bigger portions can mean big problems for your health

If you're packing on the pounds, open the kitchen cabinet and take a long, hard look at your china and flatware. Big bowls and big spoons cause people to eat bigger portions of ice cream, a new study has found.

The research, to be published in the September issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, reported that doubling the size of bowls increased the amount of ice cream people served themselves by 31 percent. Offering them a larger ice cream scoop increased the amount they dished out by 14.5 percent.

The size of plates and bowls -- and servings in general -- have increased in restaurants as well as at home, which means you may be eating more food without even realizing it.

"Generally speaking, people underestimate what they eat," said Cape Girardeau dietician Lea Anne Lambert. "People say carbs are bad, they're making us fat, but it's not just that. We're eating too much."

Lambert recently helped the Southeast Missourian compare typical portions of food served at home and in local restaurants with the portions recommended for a healthy lifestyle by the American Dietetic Association.

Here's what we found...

CEREAL INFO

Too much of a good thing -- Over-doing your cereal means over-eating grains

How many people wake up and pour themselves a bowl of cereal, slosh in some milk -- and maybe even add a spoonful or two of sugar -- for breakfast? Depending on how large your bowl is, that could be a problem.

According to Lambert, 3/4-cup of cereal is considered a serving. This bowl held nearly 4 cups' worth -- 5 servings of cereal total. That's nearly a full day's serving of grains, just for breakfast. Even though the cereal (minus the spoonful of sugar) is generally healthy, overloading on grains typically means overloading on carbohydrates.

But in case 3/4 cup of cereal doesn't look like much to you, Lambert advises supplementing the recommended serving with fruit or another healthy breakfast food.

BURGER N FRIES INFO

Double your fun -- This hamburger is nearly twice as large as the recommended daily allowance.

Burgers -- often the bigger the better -- are a staple in most American's diets. This burger, purchased from a local restaurant, had nearly double the 3 ounces of meat recommended for a serving. Consequently, the bun was about twice as large as the recommended serving of grain as well.Two slices of bacon added 90 calories. A slice of cheddar cheese adds another 100 calories. Cutting the serving of fries from 5 ounces to 2.5 ounces is another way to save calories. Basically, cutting the meal in half represents a portion-size in line with the recommended daily allowance.

PASTA INFO

One big pasta bowl --The veggies in this dish don't cancel out the fattening alfredo sauce of large serving of pasta

This alfredo/pasta/chicken/broccoli medley from a local restaurant represents six times the recommended serving of pasta. With the garlic bread added in, that's seven starches for this meal alone, said Lambert. On an 1,800-calorie-per-day diet, four to five starches per day is the maximum recommended. There's also the issue of alfredo sauce, which is the least healthy sauce due to it's high calorie-content. But that doesn't mean you can't enjoy this dish.The chicken served with this meal is actually less than a recommended serving of 3 ounces (there was a little over 2 ounces here). That, combined with just three servings of pasta, 1/2 cup of broccoli and no bread makes for a healthier meal, said Lambert.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.