Packages and portions of food and beverages have gotten bigger over the past 30 to 40 years. So have the Danes—to such an extent that more than half are overweight. “Ja tak, lidt mindre” is a new initiative aimed at helping Danes maintain a healthy weight.

In the 2000s, we taught Danes to eat more fruits and vegetables, and in the 2010s, we got them to eat twice as many whole grains. The 2020s are set to be the decade of portion control, when we’ll turn the tide on obesity in Denmark. Eighteen industry organizations, companies, labor unions, NGOs, and government agencies have joined forces in the public-private partnership “Yes, please, a little less.”

“Over the past few decades, we’ve been tempted by ever-larger package and portion sizes. This causes us to unconsciously eat and drink more without feeling any more full. It increases the risk of obesity and, consequently, a range of serious diseases. We must put an end to supersizing. We want to reverse this trend back to more normal sizes by having supermarkets, cafes, cafeterias, and takeout spots make their portions a little smaller. We call it downsizing. And over time, we consumers need to come to see ‘smaller’ as an added value on par with, for example, organic products or animal welfare,” says Susanne Tøttenborg from the Danish Cancer Society and project manager for Ja tak, lidt mindre.

Smaller portions mean fewer calories

Even a small reduction of about 10% makes a difference, even if it’s neither visible nor noticeable. Eating a 115-gram chocolate scone instead of a 130-gram one once a week adds up to about 350 grams less on the scale over the course of a year. That might not sound like much, but when we’re constantly exposed to larger portions across all types of food and beverages, it easily adds up over the years if we gain ½–1–2 kg each year.

“Yes, please— we need to do a better job of informing Danes about the link between obesity and portion sizes. But first and foremost, the packages and portions we’re offered need to be a little smaller, because obesity isn’t just the responsibility of the individual, but also of society. Once upon a time, a 25 cl soda was the norm; now it’s ½ liter, and a bag of candy often contains 250–300 g. We easily end up drinking or eating the whole thing without really considering whether we need it all,” says Susanne Tøttenborg.

A plus for CSR

Downsizing doesn’t have to hurt the bottom line; on the contrary, it can actually boost a company’s CSR efforts. For some food manufacturers, supermarket chains, and food service providers, reducing portion sizes is a new concept, as the trend has been moving in the opposite direction for decades. Several companies are currently downsizing and reporting positive results from these initiatives. One of them is 7-Eleven, which wants to help drive the trend toward smaller, higher-quality portions. That is why smaller, higher-quality portions have been one of the criteria for suppliers in the latest tender for their bakery assortment:

“Over the years, we’ve downsized several products, and right now we have five specific products that we’ll be downsizing soon. We need to deliver a high level of both quality and health in our stores, and downsizing serves both of these purposes. First, you get fewer calories, salt, fat, and sugar per product, but also because we can use the space we save to offer higher quality. Customers have responded positively, and we’re seeing higher sales of the downsized products. “Another initiative we’ve implemented in our stores is displaying the calorie content of our products, so customers can make choices based on that,” says Maria Gervig, Commercial Director at 7-Eleven.

If we calculate the impact of downsizing just two of 7-Eleven’s baked goods, it results in annual savings of more than 13 million calories and 2.6 tons of fat, sugar, and salt.

Facts

• Yes, thank you. One preventive measure against obesity is to increase the availability of and demand for food and beverages in slightly smaller packages and portions.
• Yes, thank you. This is a partnership organized by the Council for Healthy Food. There are 18 partners: ALT for damerne/FIT LIVING, the Danish Brewers’ Association, Coop, the Danish Cooperative Grocers’ Association, DI Food, the Professional Association of Clinical Dietitians, FOA, the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, Healthy Skinny Bitch, the Danish Heart Association, the Danish Diet and Nutrition Association, the Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen University College, the Danish Agriculture & Food Council, McDonald’s, the Danish Health Authority, the Frej Think Tank, and Aarhus University.
• 51 percent, or approximately 2.4 million Danish adults, are overweight. If this trend continues, two out of three will be overweight by 2045, with one in three being severely overweight. Reference
• Portion size effect: Large packages and portions cause us to eat and drink more without feeling any more full. This holds true regardless of age, gender, education, and socioeconomic status. Reference
• Most people cannot tell the difference when they look at a range of common foods in two different sizes: one at 100% size and one that is 10% smaller. Reference 1 Reference 2
• About 20 percent of Danes’ individual carbon footprint comes from our food consumption. If all Danes ate and drank 10 percent less as a result of downsizing, our carbon footprint—all other things being equal—would be 2 percent smaller.