The solution to controlling portion sizes could be portion-control plates, but people are unlikely to 'go back there.'
That's according to Newstalk Breakfast host Ciara Kelly, who was speaking as a British journalist criticised "the madness of our modern diet."
Liz Hoggard decided to eat like it was the 1970s, with appropriate portions for the time.
Using an adult portion-control plate, she worked out the right amount of food in the right proportions.
"We flatter ourselves that we’re healthier than ever, with our kale and quinoa. But we’re serving ourselves huge portions," she wrote in the UK Telegraph.
A chef arranging food on a plate before serving in a restaurant. Picture by: Westend61 GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo"Portions are going the way of those of our US friends, as our plates (and drinks) get bigger," she said.
Ciara said everything we eat and drink has become supersized.
"Plates apparently are 11 inches wide nowadays on average - they were 8.5 inches wide in the '70s," she said.
"Glasses that we drank wine out of, they held between about 100 and 200 mls - now they're vastly bigger.
"Everything has become supersized, portions are ginormous by comparison.
"Even if you go and buy a bun or a muffin or a cake, the slices you'll get will be enormous.
"I'm old enough to remember the '70s, and she's dead bloody right".
'Food is a leisure activity'
Host Shane Coleman has said people are eating out a lot more than they used to.
"Food has almost become a leisure activity now," he said.
"Nobody went out for breakfast - eating out for dinner was rare, but you just didn't do it for breakfast.
"We're clearly not going to put that genie into the bottle, and nor do we necessarily want to.
"My own big failing is portion control: I actually eat quite well in terms of the food I eat, but I eat way too much of it.
"If there's anything left on anybody else's plate in the house, I'll eat that as well.
"It is a lot to do with what our expectations are and what we're used to.
"We are top, or second I think, in the European obesity table and that wasn't the case in the 1970s and 1980s".
'The bit that killed me'
Ciara said portion-control plates could be the answer, but we're unlikely to use them.
"I saw somebody yesterday on Instagram talking about using one to try and control their own portions: she said it's like eating off a toddler's plate," she said.
"The bit that killed me, [Liz Hoggard] was talking about different sizes of portions: you make a small euro-size circle with you thumb and forefinger - that's the amount of pasta you should serve yourself.
"Cheese should be a matchbox-size serving... meat is the palm of your hand, fish is like a chequebook.
"Would we all be better going back? But I'm not sure we can do that.
"If you know the problem, what can we do - what is the solution to this?" she added.
