CHICAGO - New research by The NPD Group reveals that portion control is a tenet of healthy eating, and it appears that consumers are increasingly aware of the importance of managing the portion size of the foods they eat.

For the study, "Healthy Eating Strategies by Generation," NPD compiled a list of 30 healthy eating and lifestyle dimensions to determine which ones consumers of different generations associate with healthy eating. Out of the 30 attributes, eating smaller portions ranked 11th in importance among adult consumers across generations as a healthy eating characteristic. Adult consumers ranked the top five characteristics of healthy eating and healthy lifestyles consistently: exercise regularly, eat well balanced meals, eat all things in moderation, limit/avoid foods with saturated fat or cholesterol or trans fats, drink at least 8 glasses of water per day.

Eating smaller portions ranked 7th in importance amongst Gen X consumers (ages 35 to 45) as a healthy eating characteristic, which is the highest rank for the behavior among all generational groups. For Gen Y (ages 21 to 34), eating smaller portions ranked 8th, and for younger boomers (ages 46-54), it ranked 12th as a healthy eating characteristic. The older age groups ?" older boomers, silent generation, and G.I. generation, (ages 55 and older), with lesser appetites overall, had the lowest overall ranks for eating smaller portions. More women, especially overweight and obese women, tend to place a higher importance on eating smaller portions than do men.

According to NPD, 43 percent of the more than 5,000 adults surveyed indicated that they ate smaller portions always or most of the time in the past year. An even greater percentage of adult consumers (57%) aspire to eat smaller portions in the coming year, suggesting that this healthy eating strategy will become more important in the future.

Smaller portions and portion control are also important to consumers who want to eat more healthfully when they eat at restaurants and other foodservice outlets.

"Based on the interest in smaller portions among the younger age groups and the size of these age groups, portion control is an area of opportunity for food manufacturers," said Dori Hickey, director of product management at NPD and author of the report. "As they move through their life, these generations may continue the healthy eating behaviors they adopted in their younger years, making portion-control a long-term opportunity."