Bigger portions will get eaten

Bigger portions will get eaten

Bigger portions will get eaten
By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY, October 20, 2005

Americans eat what's put in front of them, even if it's way too much.

In fact, adults and children - even kids as young as 2 - will keep on eating if they are served bigger portions, according to two new studies discussed Wednesday at the annual meeting of the Obesity Society, an organization of weight-loss professionals.

This research adds to evidence that supersized portions could be contributing to adult and child obesity.

In one study, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston fed dinner to 75 kids ages 2 to 9 on three occasions. The meal was designed to be appealing to them: macaroni and cheese, corn, applesauce, baby carrots, chocolate-chip cookies and milk.

The macaroni-and-cheese entree was served three different ways: an age-appropriate portion on the dinner plates; twice as much of the entree on the dinner plate; and twice as much made available in an individual serving dish instead of on the plate. Findings:

- 63% ate more when served more.

- Normal-weight kids were as likely as overweight kids to eat more of the larger portion.

- When served an age-appropriate amount, children ate about half (56%) of the entree.

- When the portion was doubled, the children ate an average of 29% more of the macaroni and cheese than when they were served the more appropriate amount. However, they ate slightly less of the other foods so that their calorie intake at the larger-entree meal was only about 13% higher. This happened with all ages, even those as young as 2.

- The kids who ate the most when the entree was doubled ate less when allowed to spoon out macaroni from the individual serving dish.

"Modest weight loss improves nearly all parameters of health," says researcher Suzanne Phelan, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral medicine at Brown University.

Read the entire article