Use a Plate!

The Size Of Food Packages Influences Our Eating

Unfortunately we're very 'suggestible' when it comes to how much food we eat.... the size of the food serving subconsciously 'suggests' to us how much we should eat. If we're given food in a bigger package we're more likely to eat more than if we're given food in a smaller package, research consistently shows.

Jenny
Bowden
says . . . .

How much we eat can vary quite considerably, we're easily able to 'make room' for a bit more should the occasion call for it. And obviously if the occasion calls for it, and we keep 'making room', we shall find ourselves at the end of the week having eaten far more than we intended.

Double The Packaging Size And You'll Likely Eat 30-45% More!

There is considerable evidence that the size of portions and food packaging has increased steadily in the last few decades. Consider the size of a cafe muffin now in comparison to that of 10 years ago - I'd hazard a guess that they're at least twice the size.

Studies have clearly shown that the size of a package or portion can influence our eating - even of foods we find distasteful. Scientists gave moviegoers a free bucket of stale popcorn each before the start of a movie, some were given a bigger bucket than others. At the end of the movie the researchers checked how much of the stale popcorn was eaten and the people with the bigger buckets of stale popcorn had eaten over 30% more stale popcorn than the people with the smaller buckets. Stale or not - the moviegoers kept eating the popcorn, because it was in the bucket.

Double the size of a dinner serving or package and we will eat around 18-25% more; double the size of a snack serving or package and we'll eat a whopping 30-45% more!

Practical Advice - Serve Meals And Snacks On A Plate, Always

Packaging and serving size influence our eating. Grab a big bag of potato chips and chances are you'll eat far more of those chips than if you had bought yourself a small snack-pack of them. I should know, I've often found myself unable to stop once I start on potato chips. But, rather than use willpower as a weapon, instead make these simple changes to manage your eating:

  • Serve all meals and snacks on a plate - don't eat food from the packet;
  • Serving food on a plate gives us an opportunity to adjust the portion to a sensible size;
  • Serving food on a plate gives us a good visual cue as to how much we're eating, before we start.

If you can halve the size of your snack serving, by placing it on a plate rather than eating from a big packet, you stand a good chance of reducing your snacking intake by 30-45%. And that's a considerable reduction.

That means, grabbing a bag of potato chips or cookies (or almonds!) and planting ourselves in front of the TV for an afternoon snack is out of the question. If you want potato chips as a treat occasionally, so be it. But, take that big packet and place just a small handful onto a plate or into a bowl for your snack. Take the big bag and store it away in the cupboard for another day. Then take a good look at that snack, find yourself a seat and enjoy your snack or treat. Venture not back to the big bag!

from Thinking Nutrition with Jenny Bowden

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