Dessert shooters, dainty desserts, personal size, mini size, snack-sized… the popularity of small-sized items is soaring while their size is shrinking. Most of you tell me that you’ve become quite calorie and portion conscious. Regulations continue to evolve regarding the posting of nutrition information. The potentially shocking statistics along with a depressed economy are driving restaurants to hold on to their profits by downsizing portions yet with a premium price.

What products can you think of that are now mini-sized? Coke has the 90-calorie mini can. According to a Bloomberg report Dairy Queen has the 6-7 ounce mini Blizzard, Starbucks has bite-sized cupcakes and whoppie pies and others are joining the mini-size me marketing trend. One of the pioneers in personal-sized desserts is Seasons 52, a chain based here in Orlando where the Mini Indulgences are very popular.

Starbucks has also rolled out their Bistro Boxes that contain small meals with a calorie cap of about 500. These items mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg as most every restaurant and even grocery stores wants to claim a part of this trend. What do you think of this mini-size trend? Can petite sized desserts affect a super sized American population and turn us into a mini-sized you and me? What do you think? Does it make it easier to monitor portions or do you find it insulting that that food companies and restaurants have to dictate what portion sizes look like?

Maybe you don’t have an interest in food and nutrition like I do and small-sized portions help you by providing needed portion control. How do you feel about the cost? One of my friends said that she routinely orders kids’ sizes for the portions are smaller and the cost is less. Some of my colleagues feel these mini-sizes are a way to make money by charging a premium price for a tiny bit of food. Do you agree?

I have mixed feelings…like a pancake I flip back and forth. On one side, I travel a lot and find that when I’m tired, I tend to eat what is there in front of me. Mini-sized meals are a great option to help me watch my intake of everything: calories, fat, sodium, etc. But then I get frustrated that we need mini-sizes at all. If portions weren’t so obscene to begin with, why would we need a mini-size?

However, I’m a Southern girl and I love dessert. These dainty desserts let me indulge without feeling a roll around my middle the next morning and I really like that. Yet, I know that just like diets, one size does not fit all bodies.  Am I insulted that restaurants are dictating these smaller portions? No, because I’m a realist and know that many of you are not into food as I am…as my husband reminds me. But hey, I want to think everyone is and if you weren’t asking for them, restaurants would not be offering these smaller items.

Regardless, the mini-size trend is here to stay and offers another option that I see as a positive step in somewhat redefining portion size.

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