Title: In the Eye of the Beholder: Influence of Visual Cues on Children’s Portion Sizes
Author:
Yasmeen Bruton (tua06836@temple.edu) (1), Katherine Isselmann DiSantis (2), Elizabeth Lea Hanna (1), Elena Serrano (3), Leann Birch (4), and Jennifer Fisher (1)
1: Temple University Department of Public Health, 2: University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 3: Virginia Tech Department of Human Nutrition, 4: Pennsylvania State University Human Development and Family Studies
Section/SPIG: Food and Nutrition
Issue Date:
Large food portions are thought to contribute to childhood obesity by inflating consumption norms and stimulating intake. Visual cues, such as dishware size, are believed to contribute to these effects. Previous studies have shown that children eat less when they serve themselves, however little is known about the factors that shape the size of children's self-selected portions.
Jennifer Fisher and her team at Temple University’s Center for Obesity Research and Education are investigating the effects of large dishes on children's self-served portions and intakes. Forty-two first-graders were observed at an urban private school that participated in the USDA National School Lunch Program. Using a within-subjects design, children served themselves lunch one day/week for eight weeks using either child- or adult-size dishware. At each “Special Lunch,” participants served themselves either a unit (e.g., chicken nuggets) or amorphous (e.g., pasta) entree as well as fruit and vegetable side dishes. As they passed through the line, children were told to“take as little or as much as you want, but you must take some of everything.”
Chldren served themselves larger portions and subsequently ate more of all the foods offered (unit and amorphous entree, vegetable and fruit sides) when using adult-sized plates and bowls. On average children served themselves 23 percent more amorphous entree (77 kcal), 12 percent more unit entree (49 kcal), 12 percent more fruit (18 kcal), and 11 percent more vegetable (9 kcal). Children from food insecure households showed greater increases in the amount they served themselves when using adult-sized plates, although they did not necessarily eat more on those days.
This research demonstrates the influence of contextual cues on children's regulation of self-served meal size. Consistent with studies of adults, these findings indicate that larger dishware sizes can stimulate the amount of food selected and consumed by young children. Educating parents and caregivers to use developmentally appropriate dishware sizes and to provide guidance to their children around self-serving may help promote healthy child portion sizes.