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The (Supersized) Last Supper

The food portions depicted in paintings of the Last Supper have grown by up to two-thirds, echoing the “supersizing” of our own meals amid the growing obesity crisis, according to a report in the Telegraph.

Researchers compared the size of food in 52 of the most famous portrayals of Jesus Christ and his disciples at their final meal before his death and found dramatic changes.

The size of the main dish grew 69 per cent; the size of the plate, 66% and the bread, 23%, between the years 1000 and 2000.

“Supersizing” - a term that became popular in the mid-1990s and describes the ability of McDonalds’ customers to increase portion sizes - is often considered a modern phenomenon.

But “what we see recently may be just a more noticeable part of a very long trend,” said Brian Wansink, a food behaviour scientist at Cornell University who conducted the study with his brother Craig, a professor of religious studies at Virginia Wesleyan College in Norfolk, Virginia.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .