Does Plate Size Used in Food Service Affect Portion Perception?

Abstract

  Introduction: One of the environmental factor affect obesity is increased size of food portions. According to widespread belief people consume much more food with large plates The food portion perception could be changed with the size of plates. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of plate size on food portion perception. Methods: This experimental study includes 100 students with ages ranged 20-34 years. One portion of pasta was served with three different plates.  And the portion of pasta was asked to determined for each plates from each participants separately. The data was analyzed by SPSS 17.0 and p value below 0.05 was considered as significant. Results: The rate of Delboeuf illusion in second plate was %7 and it reaches up to 23% in third plate. Nearly half of the participants (49%) had Delboeuf illusion with first plate. The accuracy of portion evaluations of attendance does not show significant difference according to gender and body mass index. Conclusion: As a result, serving foods with small plates may reduce the amount of food and decrease the energy intake. Therefore, it could be used for a cost effective method for obesity fight.