The ’Eyes’ Have It: Who Could Ever Fathom? Station 2 Student Activity Page 5C Activity Introduction: Portion distortion is common and it is causing a lot of people to gain a lot of weight. Learning to judge healthy serving sizes takes practice. Carrying around measuring cups and a scale is not practical. In this activity you will try to compare common measurements with parts of your hands. Activity Background: In all traditional measuring systems, there are units based upon human body parts. Some of these are included in Ta b l e 1 below. Since most of us do not have an innate ability to judge weights and measures, using parts of the hands may help people learn to judge healthy serving sizes of foods.
Table 1 Natural Weights and Measurements Derived from Human Body Parts
Name Measurement Numeric Values Origin
Arm’s Length of a human arm. 28 inches (70 cm) English Length Cubit Word comes from Latin cubitum 18 inches (47.72 cm) English or elbow.Length of a man’s fore- [Note: Roman and arm from his elbow to the tip of Egyptian measurements his outstretched middle finger. are smaller while the Royal cubit was longer.] Digit Distance equal to the width of a .75 inch Ancient civilizations persons finger. (19 millimeters) Fathom Word comes from ‘old English’ 2 yards or 6 feet England but foethm meaning ‘outstretched (approx. 1.829 meters) Danish, Swedish arms’. It is the distance between and Japanese a man’s outstretched fingertips. forms exist that are different in length.
Finger Length of the middle finger 4.5 inches (11.43 cm) English from the tip to the joint where the finger is attached to the hand. Fist The width of a clinched hand. 4 inches (10 cm) English
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® Positively Aging /M.O.R.E. ACTIVITY 5C Corpulosity 2007©The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio 14 Table 1 Natural Weights and Measurements Derived from Human Body Parts, continued
Name Measurement Numeric Values Origin Foot Length of a human foot. 12 inches (33.3 cm) English
Natural 9.8 inches (25 cm) Ancient time foot Hand Traditional unit of distance 4 inches (10.16 cm) which is used to measure the height of horses.
Palm Width of a person’s palm. 3 inches (7.5 cm) England (confused with a span from ancient times.) Shaft- Distance from the tip of the out- 6.5 inches (16.5 cm) Anglo Saxon ment stretched thumb to the opposite side of the palm of the hand. 6 inches( 15.24 cm) Modern times Span This distance represents the 9 inches (22.9 cm) English span of a man’s hand with fingers stretched out as far as possible. Thumb Another name for an inch. It is 1 inch (2.5 cm) England the width of a man’s thumb at the base of the nail. Yard Distance from the tip of the nose 3 feet or 36 inches England 1066 to the tip of King Henry’s out- (91.44 cm) stretched finger.
Source: Russ Rowlet from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/custom.html Activity Materials: N Copy of Student Activity Page per station or group N Copy of Student Data Page per student
LESSON 5
® Positively Aging /M.O.R.E. ACTIVITY 5C Corpulosity 2007©The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio 15 Activity Instructions: 1. When estimating serving sizes, you can use your hands to determine about how much food you should eat. This will help you learn portion control and thus avoid the portion distortion that causes so many people to gain weight.
2. Using Figure 1 and Figure 2 diagrams on your data sheet mark and label the recommended servings listed in Ta b l e 1 on your Student Data Page.
3. Fill in Ta b l e 1 on your Student Data Page indicating how to measure the Portion Distortion Servings with your hands.
4. Parts of Hand a. Fist = 1 cup b. Index finger length = diameter of fruit serving c. Thumb tip = 1 tsp d. Thumb volume = 2 Tablespoons e. Palm of Hand = 3 oz, keep palm flat, filled with nuts or chips = 1 serving
Retrieved from the following on January 20, 2006 http://www.ahs.uwaterloo.ca/~kh346/html/handy.htm
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® Positively Aging /M.O.R.E. ACTIVITY 5C Corpulosity 2007©The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio 16 The ’Eyes’ Have It: Who Could Ever Fathom? Station 2 Student Data Page 5C
Table 1: Estimating Serving Sizes 1 Recommended Estimate on Hand Portion Distortion Estimate on Hand Serving Serving 1/2 c chopped fruit 1/2 fist 1 c chopped fruit 1 tsp butter Tip of thumb 2 Tablespoons butter 1 cup cereal, 1/2 fully out-stretched 2 cups pasta rice or pasta hand 1 ounce cheese Complete thumb 4 ounces cheese 3 ounces meat, Palm of hand 10 ounces chicken chicken or fish 2 Tablespoons of Thumb 5 Tablespoons peanut butter peanut butter Chips Fill flat palm 5 servings chips
Fist LESSON 5
® Positively Aging /M.O.R.E. ACTIVITY 5C Corpulosity 2007©The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio 17 Open Hand
LESSON 5
® Positively Aging /M.O.R.E. ACTIVITY 5C Corpulosity 2007©The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio 18