BBC News School Report @ LCS

During the past 25 years, portion sizes being sold have increased by more than 50%.

Approximately 2 in 3 adults in the UK are obese, which increases the risks of heart problems, such as type 2 diabetes and cancer. Even though this is happening, shops and restaurants are not helping this issue by constantly increasing their portion sizes. It has been proven that most people are reluctant to leave food on their plate, so they will force the excess food in when they are already full.

Based on 6,711 people taking part in some clinical tests, suggested that if we abolished large portion sizes, everybody could cut down on up to 279 calories a day. Dr Ian Shemilt, from Cambridge's Behaviour and Health Research Unit, stated to the BBC News website: "This is the most conclusive evidence to date that people consistently consume more food and drink when given larger portions, packaging or tableware.”

For a woman, the recommended daily intake is 2,000 and for a man, it is 2,500 but sometimes, a single meal alone can exceed these daily amounts. However, we still eat a shocking 3,440 calories every day. The graph shows how many calories some people consume in their favourite meals.This is our second paragraph.

Here are some shocking examples of how portion sizes have actually changed on average between 1993 and 2013:

 Shepherd's Pie ready meals almost doubled in size  Bagels increased in size from 70g to 86g  A family pack of crisps increased 50% from 100g to 150g  A portion of peanuts is now 80% larger  An individual chicken pie is now 40% bigger Remember that the customer plays a part; we can all be proactive in this by reducing the size of our plates and glasses and putting pressure on pubs and restaurants to serve up more healthy quantities of food.