US: Last Supper helpings have grown, study finds

The Christian faith holds several acts of 'super-sizing' to be miracles accomplished by Jesus Christ - a handful of fish and loaves of bread expanded to feed thousands; a wedding feast running low on wine suddenly awash in the stuff, writes Melissa Healy for the Los Angeles Times. In a bid to uncover the roots of super-sized American fare, a pair of sibling scholars has turned to an unusual source: 52 artists' renderings of the New Testament's Last Supper.

Their findings, published online last Tuesday in the International Journal of Obesity, indicate that serving sizes have been marching heavenward for 1,000 years.

"I think people assume that increased serving sizes, or 'portion distortion', is a recent phenomenon," said Brian Wansink, director of the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab and author of "Mindless Eating: Why we eat more than we think". "But this research indicates that it's a general trend for at least the last millennium."
Full report on the Los Angeles Times site