November 19, 2007

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Bottomless Bowls: Why Visual Cues of Portion Size May Influence Intake

 Mini Link: http://www.obesityresearch.org/cgi/content/abstract/13/1/93

This is an interesting bit of obesity research that should also be of interest to any chef. Researchers used soup bowls with hidden mechanisms that refilled the bowls as the subjects ate from them.

Results: Participants who were unknowingly eating from self-refilling bowls ate more soup [14.7 ± 8.4 vs. 8.5 ± 6.1 oz; F(1,52) = 8.99; p < 0.01] than those eating from normal soup bowls. However, despite consuming 73% more, they did not believe they had consumed more, nor did they perceive themselves as more sated than those eating from normal bowls. This was unaffected by BMI.

Discussion: These findings are consistent with the notion that the amount of food on a plate or bowl increases intake because it influences consumption norms and expectations and it lessens one’s reliance on self-monitoring. It seems that people use their eyes to count calories and not their stomachs. The importance of having salient, accurate visual cues can play an important role in the prevention of unintentional overeating.

Posted at November 19, 2007 6:03 PM | Comments (2)


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Yeah, I've actually been eating less and feeling just as full simply by switching to a smaller plate for dinner. Less food looks like more on a smaller plate.

Posted by: Jeff at November 20, 2007 2:13 AM


That's a great diet technique! But the relationship is actually much more complex. When I read this, what I was thinking about was degustation menus at nice restaurants. I'm talking about 10, 20, or 30 course meals. Customers tend to leave saying either that they were entirely full by halfway through the meal and couldn't enjoy the rest, or they end up saying that because every course only consisted of a small bite of something, it was unsatisfying and never really filled them up.

Well, chefs could, perhaps, control their diners' portion perceptions using techniques like, for instance, covering a larger portion of the plate surface with a sauce, even if the solids are the same size. And this raises other questions: does it look like more food if it's on a dark plate? A clear plate? A round plate?

Posted by: Barzelay at November 20, 2007 2:26 AM

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