When a portion becomes a norm: Exposure to a smaller vs. larger portion of food affects later food intake



Robinson, Eric ORCID: 0000-0003-3586-5533, Henderson, Jodie, Keenan, Gregory S ORCID: 0000-0002-3940-7401 and Kersbergen, Inge
(2019) When a portion becomes a norm: Exposure to a smaller vs. larger portion of food affects later food intake. FOOD QUALITY AND PREFERENCE, 75. pp. 113-117.

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Abstract

<h4>Background</h4>Portion sizes in the food environment may communicate information about what constitutes a 'normal' amount of food to eat. Here we examined whether mere visual exposure to a smaller vs. larger portion size of snack food affects perceptions of how much a 'normal' sized portion is and how much people choose to eat of that food in future.<h4>Methods</h4>Under the guise of a study on taste preference and personality, 104 female participants were randomly allocated to be exposed to either a smaller or larger portion size of snack food. Twenty-four hours later participants freely selected a portion of the snack food to consume and reported on their perception of what constituted a normal sized portion of the snack food.<h4>Results</h4>Participants that were exposed to a smaller, as opposed to larger portion size subsequently believed that a normal portion of the snack food was smaller in size. Exposure to the smaller as opposed to the larger portion size also resulted in participants consuming less snack food the next day.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Environmental exposure to smaller, as opposed to larger portion sizes of food may change perceptions of what constitutes a normal amount of food to eat and affect the amount of food people choose to eat in future.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Portion size, Food environment, Obesity, Social norms
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 12 Mar 2019 16:53
Last Modified: 19 Jan 2023 00:57
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2019.02.013
Open Access URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2019.02.013
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3034130