As a young mother, games were routine at the dinner table. Some evenings, we played name that food. Any child that could name the mystery meat on the plate didn’t have to eat it. Of course, I am kidding. I encouraged my children to try new foods. Some foods were quite exotic, although the fish eggs were not very popular. A second game, “food imitation,” however, was very popular. This game was not about fake food, as the title might suggest, but instead was about the ability to vocally imitate the meat on the plate. A meal containing pork was greeted with pig snorts, chicken brought various clucks and beef was always a “moo,” never a “boo.” The imitation game was a lot of fun, until the first time we took the children to a four-star restaurant. Two children ordered chicken fingers, one picked the hamburger, I chose fish and my husband decided on a pork chop. When the food arrived at the table…well, you can guess the rest.

The use of mealtime games started early in my home. Preschoolers are often fussy with food and at my table, we had a rule. You must try each food and at least consume a respectable portion of your meal to leave the table. Unfortunately, at the end of the meal, it was common to see conspicuously absent french fries, while the less favored green beans remained untouched on the plate. “I don’t want them,” said my youngest son, B.

“I don’t think you tried them,” I replied. “How do you know you don’t want them?”

B just stared at me.

I took his fork and separated two green beans from the pile. “Just eat two.”

“Don’t want two.”

I sighed, “Why?”

“I’m full,” B said.

I got up from the table and looked in his ear. “Let’s see,” I said, “I can barely see french fries, some milk, and a few bites of hot dog. Sorry,” I said, backing into the chair, “I don’t see any green beans. I don’t think you are full yet. You still have plenty of space between your ears and your eyeballs.”

“My eyeballs are full too, mom.”

“But look at all of those green beans,” I said, tapping his plate with a fork. “If you don’t eat them, who will the french fries dance with?”

“I’m sure the hot dog can dance, mom,” said my other son, A. He grinned at me from the other side of the table.

It was a conspiracy; I’m sure of it and given that I was such a perfect child, wholly unfair.

Several years ago, National Geographic commissioned a study in search of the regions with the most long-lived people. Although there were differences in dietary specifics among the identified areas, there were also lifestyle commonalities. One such commonality was the “80% rule.” The longest-lived people ate smaller meals, i.e. until they were “80% full.”

This strategy is quite different from the American standard, where we value larger meals. Take the all-you-can-eat buffet or the supersized option at the local fast-food restaurant. We wouldn’t get “our money’s worth” if the portion sizes were smaller than expected, would we? And, if you think you are safe with the “normal” portions, consider that our definition of portion size has increased substantially. That order of french fries is almost three times the size it used to be. Honestly, I think B had the right idea all along. We don’t need to be stuffed to the ears to be full. But maybe eating enough was never the point.