Trying to eat less food? Some experts claim choosing smaller plates to dine on could lower your caloric load. This trick doesn’t necessarily work for everyone, however, according to new research from the University of Connecticut.
According to the study, which was presented at the annual scientific meeting on the American Psychosomatic Society, some people, especially those who are overweight, don’t change their portion sizes when using smaller plates–instead, they eat the same amount of food, causing the weight to pile on.
As for the reason why this occurs, researchers say they have the answer: Some people just don’t respond to visual cues.
“It has been assumed that overweight or obese consumers are more likely than others to underestimate the size of a food serving and accordingly overeat–-particularly when the food is presented on a large dinner plate or in a large container,” says Lance Bauer, a psychiatry professor from the University of Connecticut. “On average, overweight or obese adolescent girls were less attentive than normal weight girls to visual cues of different types.”
The Study
For their research, scientists quizzed 162 teenage girls about portion sizes placed on different sizes of plates. Some plates, for instance, were small but the portion sizes large, which most people would consider an “oversized” amount.
Naturally, scientists assumed most of the girls would correctly guess the portion sizes based on the visual cues, but that wasn’t the case. After the girls were tested, they found a significant difference: Overweight or obese girls repeatedly did not identify these portion sizes as being too much. Normal weight girls were able to do this, however, suggesting that overweight or obese girls don’t know what constitutes a large or small portion size.
For Bauer, this finding reveals something important–sometimes visual cues aren’t enough.
“The study’s results imply that diet education for overweight or obese adolescents should be clear, simple, repeated, and interesting,” says Bauer. “The next step might involve incorporating information about an overweight or obese child’s cognitive abilities in his or her weight loss treatment. In diet education, one size might not fit all.”
While Bauer does not say that using smaller plates is a bad strategy, he does point out something significant: Sometimes even the best diet strategies fail for some people. Instead, Bauer suggests that dietary needs should be tailored based on the person’s background and cognitive abilities.
“For this reason and others, it is frequently recommended that these consumers use smaller plates to defeat the illusion,” says Bauer.
Bottom line? If you’re trying to lose weight, using smaller plates to limit your food intake may not work–instead, you’ll need to use stricter strategies, such as counting your calories or recording your food intake in a diary. Unfortunately, not all diet strategies work for everyone.
Readers: How do you limit your caloric intake?
Source:
Smaller Plates, Smaller Portions? Not Always – UCONN.edu
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