NEW YORK, May 26 — Before you go ahead and supersize your burger meal, chew on this: the average restaurant meal today is more than four times larger than in the 1950s.

That's according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, which examined the average size of a fast food meal and found that the hamburger, for instance, has grown from 3.9 ounces (111 grams) in the 1950s to three times that size at 12 ounces today.

What used to be a modest 7 ounces for a soda 60 years ago is now six times bigger, averaging 42 ounces.

And those sides of fries used to weigh in at 2.4 ounces but now averages 6.7 ounces.

The result? Adults, on average, are 26 lbs (12 kg) heavier than they were in the 1950s.

To avoid overeating when dining out, the CDC suggests ordering smaller meals, splitting a meal with a friend, eating half and taking the rest home, or asking restaurants to offer smaller meals.

It's not just portions of restaurant meals that have become supersized. In the last 20 years, the standard size of a dinner plate has likewise increased from 12 to 20 inches, encouraging diners to pile on their food and overeat.

The Small Plate Movement in the US advises people to eat their largest meal off a 10-inch plate for one month.

A study published in the Journal of Consumer Research found that people who use bigger forks tend to eat less. — AFP-Relaxnews