I went to college in Hawaii and there was a frozen yogurt place near me called YogurtLand.
Well, I don't like frozen yogurt as much as soft serve (don't really like hard ice cream though) or custard, but some of the creamier varieties weren't too bad. But what was great about YogurtLand is that you get a cup, and you walk over to the flavors, and you pick as many as you want and dispense it yourself, putting in the exact amount you want, and then put in as many or as little toppings as you want, and they charge you by weight. So you can get the EXACT amount of frozen yogurt you want, no more, no less.
I get back to Michigan for the summer, go out for ice cream, and order a child's size of ice cream, figuring I'd get a tiny little scoop, but then I get it and it seems so big! Now don't get me wrong, I have no problem eating it! But I can't imagine getting anything BIGGER than child's size/small now, because that seems like a lot of ice cream! What if I really DO just want a very small amount of ice cream? What is one to do? Stupid oversized American ice cream!

by me the child size is usually perfect. i just hate when they insist you should be 12 or under to eat it.

I think it's perfect too. But that's kind of my point. Why should the child size be perfect for a grown adult? Because the ice cream portions are far too big! I think our current "child size" should be a regular instead.

I agree! It's definitely over-sized. A couple of decades ago, what was considered a regular meal for adults at McDonalds is now called a Happy Meal.

It's not just ice cream. Portions of everything are like that.

I've been irked by a commercial I keep hearing lately, for some kind of chips that are supposed to be healthier, and it ends with a cheery "And remember! You can eat the whole bag!"

We do have that ice cream stores in Brazil!!!
I loved go there...but you always eat way too much... But at least you get all that you want on it too, since you serve yourself.
They call it there Self Service Ice Cream, they also do it in restaurants with food.
Now, I have to tell you everything related with food is oversized in America...
No wonder the overweight is a huge problem in this country, because it is a culture mentality issue.

I'm not sure where you are from but I'm from San Diego and we have tons of those yogurt shops- you pick a cup in any size you want then put on whatever toppings you like- I LOVE IT! My husband always teases me and says I have more fruit than frozen yogurt lol.

I agree that the child cups are good- but really then childrens cups should be even smaller! lol. I remember when I went out with my husband's family and got the child's size and SHARED it with my husband his family all were eating the large sizes saying "oh how can you two share that, it's so small!" but while my husband and I barely could finish it they all finished their LARGE sizes with waffle cones. I was amazed how much food they could put away.

...and how many little children eat part of their oversized portion of ice cream and say, "Mommy, I'm full." Mommy doesn't want to waste the expensive ice cream, so she eats it herself, packing in more calories than she realizes.

I usually order child size ice cream too. If they won't let me order it because "I'm not 12", then they don't want my money and I walk.

Or even worse, the ones who think they need to eat it all because it's just "a child's size" and are already learning to eat past what they should at a young age.

I didn't even realize some places might do that. I haven't had an issue. I just get the smallest size. If it's child's, I get a child's. If it's small, I get a small. I haven't been denied yet. This is just for ice cream though, since I can't reuse it. At a restaurant I get by by ordering *just* a meal with no sides whatsoever and just getting water, and if it's still too much I take some home and have it later. But you can't really take ice cream home, which is why I like the child's size. Regardless, it kind of makes me frustrated at portion sizes here in America.

I LOVE Yogurtland! There's one right down the street from my university. It's always packed with students. Big portions are a problem in a America and totally explain why so much of our country is over weight.

Yeah, why should the smallest sizes (if it IS really the smallest size) be age-specific? When I go to Perkins I order from the 55+ senior menu although I'm not yet 55, and nobody's ever hassled me (and my mom who's in her 80s orders from the regular menu).

Hijack: ever notice that in old movies (like from the 30s or 40s) people in their 50s are white-haired and look plum ancient? ETA 06:16: I suppose back in black-and-white movie days they had to dye the character's hair white as a visual cue that the characters WERE old enough to have grown children, but they also seem to ACT as if 50 = if not creaky, then definitely mature and wise (we hope we hope) END HIJACK