Dodger
Wed, Oct-06-04, 09:59
People Eat More When They Are Served More
Larger Portions Foster Overeating, Study Shows
By Jennifer Warner (http://my.webmd.com/content/Biography/7/1756_54621.htm)
WebMD Medical News
Reviewed By Charlotte Grayson, MD (http://my.webmd.com/content/Biography/7/1756_50193.htm)
on Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Oct. 5, 2004 -- The more food college students are served, the more they'll eat, according to a new study that offers an explanation for the infamous "freshmen 15."
Researchers say the results also provide evidence that the growing size of fast-food portions may be at least partially responsible for American's expanding waistlines.
"The more food we served to the college student volunteers in our eating study, the more they ate," says researcher David A. Levitsky, professor of nutritional sciences and of psychology at Cornell University, in a news release. "Since we know that restaurants are serving larger and larger food portions, we think that larger portions could be a major factor responsible for the increase in overweight and obesity that is so evident today."
Serve More, Eat More
In the study, researchers asked 13 volunteers to eat a buffet lunch consisting of soup, pasta, breadsticks, and ice cream three times a week for two weeks.
In the first week, the portions remained the same. But in the second week the students were served portions that either weighed the same, 25% more, or 50% more than those they were served in the previous week.
Researchers found the volunteers who were served the largest portions ate an average of 39% more food, measured by weight, during the second week than they did in the first. That translates to an average of 273 extra calories.
"From a public health perspective, the results of this study are extremely encouraging," says Levitsky. "If it's correct that the increase in portion size is a major cause of the epidemic of obesity, then it should be possible to stop and possibly reverse this trend toward increased body weight by taking control of the size of portions served to the American people."
SOURCES: Levitsky, D. Journal of Nutrition, October 2004; vol 134: pp 2546-2549. News release Cornell University.
http://my.webmd.com/content/article/95/103086.htm?lastselectedguid={5FE84E90-BC77-4056-A91C-9531713CA348}
Larger Portions Foster Overeating, Study Shows
By Jennifer Warner (http://my.webmd.com/content/Biography/7/1756_54621.htm)
WebMD Medical News
Reviewed By Charlotte Grayson, MD (http://my.webmd.com/content/Biography/7/1756_50193.htm)
on Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Oct. 5, 2004 -- The more food college students are served, the more they'll eat, according to a new study that offers an explanation for the infamous "freshmen 15."
Researchers say the results also provide evidence that the growing size of fast-food portions may be at least partially responsible for American's expanding waistlines.
"The more food we served to the college student volunteers in our eating study, the more they ate," says researcher David A. Levitsky, professor of nutritional sciences and of psychology at Cornell University, in a news release. "Since we know that restaurants are serving larger and larger food portions, we think that larger portions could be a major factor responsible for the increase in overweight and obesity that is so evident today."
Serve More, Eat More
In the study, researchers asked 13 volunteers to eat a buffet lunch consisting of soup, pasta, breadsticks, and ice cream three times a week for two weeks.
In the first week, the portions remained the same. But in the second week the students were served portions that either weighed the same, 25% more, or 50% more than those they were served in the previous week.
Researchers found the volunteers who were served the largest portions ate an average of 39% more food, measured by weight, during the second week than they did in the first. That translates to an average of 273 extra calories.
"From a public health perspective, the results of this study are extremely encouraging," says Levitsky. "If it's correct that the increase in portion size is a major cause of the epidemic of obesity, then it should be possible to stop and possibly reverse this trend toward increased body weight by taking control of the size of portions served to the American people."
SOURCES: Levitsky, D. Journal of Nutrition, October 2004; vol 134: pp 2546-2549. News release Cornell University.
http://my.webmd.com/content/article/95/103086.htm?lastselectedguid={5FE84E90-BC77-4056-A91C-9531713CA348}