It Seems Size Really Does Matter
By: Nancy Howard,
DailySpark Blogger
1/10/2012 6:00 PM
: 56 comments
: 10,656 Views
Over the past 50 years the average dinner plate has increased from 9 inches in diameter to between 11 and 12 inches. A two to three inch increase may not seem like a big deal until you understand that increasing the plate size ever so slightly allows for an extra 50% surface area to fill-up. Couple this with the greater convenience of food and it isn't surprising that our waistbands are expending right along with the size of our plates.
Portion distortion is just one of the many factors that may be responsible for the growing obesity epidemic across the globe. With the increase in portion sizes from restaurants and fast food eateries even to the portions we serve at home, we have become a nation of gluttony.
How many of us truly knew how much we were eating prior to joining SparkPeople? It's so easy to fill up our plate and not give too much thought as to the amount of food we planned to consume. If you are like me, I am an honorary member of the Clean Plate Club. In other words I find great comfort in cleaning my plate with every meal. This is a habit I have been trying to break for some time now.
Plate size is not the only concern. According to a study published last summer in the Journal of Consumer Research, fork size may also play a role in the amount of food we consume.The study showed that patrons in an Italian restaurant who were given a larger fork versus an 'unusually small fork' ate less food than those given the smaller fork.
The theory according to the authors of the study is "the small fork gives a feeling that they are not making much progress in satiating their hunger, which results in more consumption compared to when they have a large fork."
When I came across this study I was quite intrigued with the results as I frequently eat from a smaller fork at home. I never associated the size of my fork to the amount of food I was eating. For me, because I pre-measure all my food before putting it on my plate I never even gave much thought that the size of my fork could impact the amount of food I consume at each meal.
So the next time you visit your local restaurant you may want to ask for the biggest fork they have. And if you are at home, step down to using a smaller plate. While these are just two small changes, if they make us more aware of our portion size than I see no harm in giving this a try.
What do you think about this study? Were you aware that fork size has an association to how much food one may consume during a meal?
Portion distortion is just one of the many factors that may be responsible for the growing obesity epidemic across the globe. With the increase in portion sizes from restaurants and fast food eateries even to the portions we serve at home, we have become a nation of gluttony.
How many of us truly knew how much we were eating prior to joining SparkPeople? It's so easy to fill up our plate and not give too much thought as to the amount of food we planned to consume. If you are like me, I am an honorary member of the Clean Plate Club. In other words I find great comfort in cleaning my plate with every meal. This is a habit I have been trying to break for some time now.
Plate size is not the only concern. According to a study published last summer in the Journal of Consumer Research, fork size may also play a role in the amount of food we consume.The study showed that patrons in an Italian restaurant who were given a larger fork versus an 'unusually small fork' ate less food than those given the smaller fork.
The theory according to the authors of the study is "the small fork gives a feeling that they are not making much progress in satiating their hunger, which results in more consumption compared to when they have a large fork."
When I came across this study I was quite intrigued with the results as I frequently eat from a smaller fork at home. I never associated the size of my fork to the amount of food I was eating. For me, because I pre-measure all my food before putting it on my plate I never even gave much thought that the size of my fork could impact the amount of food I consume at each meal.
So the next time you visit your local restaurant you may want to ask for the biggest fork they have. And if you are at home, step down to using a smaller plate. While these are just two small changes, if they make us more aware of our portion size than I see no harm in giving this a try.
What do you think about this study? Were you aware that fork size has an association to how much food one may consume during a meal?
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Comments
When I started switching to smaller forks I noticed that it DID take longer to eat my food -- something that I *really* needed, because I was eating large portions. So, my opinion about the fork findings is that it doesn't apply to all people.
The longer it takes to satiate my hunger, the more full I'm likely to feel, and the more I'm likely to feel like the portion in front of me is either more than enough or too much (i.e., not run and get another, or unsatisfied) -- kind of the opposite of what the study results came up with. It must be an individual thing.
Anyway, my hands are nearly child-size, so it feels better to my fingers, and wrists to not hold an oversized fork. ;)
Jocelyn - 1/12/2012 10:04:50 PM
As far as the size of the fork. Honestly, I never noticed my fork since they always seemed uniform to me.
Now, I do remember reading a few articles on a new diet "craze" where people ate baby food with tiny spoons. the idea being you eat teeny portions with the tiny spoon. what concerns me is that the articles stated how that baby food craze was taken up by the online anorexia community. adults should be eating like adults, not babies.
I sincerely doubt the size of the fork caused Americans to eat more. I do feel that a lot of different factors that seemed to collide with each other over the years is what caused the increase in the American waistline. So things like the increase of plate size, the increase of serving sizes, the lack of eating at home as a family, the lack of home cooking, the prevalence of fast food chains all over the country, the lack of exercise, etc...
- 1/12/2012 10:07:59 AM
By clicking on the word "study" in the above article I was directed to the research article itself. Interestingly, the fork findings were only applicable in a restaurant setting.
The other part of the study, done in a laboratory, came up with the opposite result, ie. smaller forks led to eating less, larger forks to eating more. Go figure.
Personally, I just don't like big plates or big forks. I'm a small person from a family of small people, and was raised using smaller plates and utensils.
Eating at home wins hands down anyway. I plan on sticking with my small plate/small fork at home, and eating out as little as possible, no matter what size of plate or fork.
- 1/11/2012 10:51:14 PM
Larger fork makes no sense at all. Like numerous others have said, if you eat off a smaller fork you take smaller bites, which slows you down and gives you a chance to feel full.
The only reason a large fork causes me to eat less is because I have a small mouth and can barely use large utensils. Especially in some restaurants that have those HUGE forks I have to take very tiny bites off the tip to use them at all, so usually I eat a few bites and just box the rest of my meal to take home, where I can eat it later with a small fork. haha - 1/11/2012 3:57:55 PM
Will try this out for myself, and see which helps more. Agree that it is very individualized! - 1/11/2012 2:17:32 PM
Any way I'm too old to "trick" myself. I'm wise to all that. ;) - 1/11/2012 1:47:47 PM
- 1/11/2012 10:55:12 AM
Not sure about utensil size: I have an unusually small mouth (according to my dentist) so a small implement is only practical (used a kiddy-fork and spoon for years). - 1/10/2012 9:50:05 PM
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