Cambridge Research Find Why Generous Portions Make Us Eat More

by Cambridge Research

A new review has produced the most conclusive evidence to date that people consume more food or non-alcoholic drinks when offered larger sized portions or when they use larger items of tableware.

* The Full English

Why do we eat more sometimes and less at other times? Some say it is because of appetite.  They say when one's appetite isn't there, he tends to eat less. Others say people eat less because they are watching their weight. Yet others say, they eat very little at a time, but do so frequently.

But for those who clamour for smaller portions, you just might have a little shock when you read through the latest find by University of Cambridge researchers about why we eat more.

According to the Cambridge study, initially published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cambridge researches found evidence that suggests a reduction of energy intake among UK adults by up to 16%.

It is even worse for Americans.  The study said energy intake could be substantially reduced among US adults by up to 29%

The report, published in Cambridge Research, comes even though it is well known that overeating increases the risks of heart disease, diabetes, and many cancers, all of which  have to potential to cause ill-health and premature death.

"However, the extent to which this over-consumption might be attributed to ‘over-serving’ of larger-sized portions of food and drink has not been known," the report said.

So to find out, Cambridge researchers at the Behaviour and Health Research Unit studied the influence of portion, package and tableware size on food consumption and found that people eat more food and drink when offered larger-sized portions, packages or tableware than wen offered smaller-size versions.

So food size is related to the amount of daily average energy by 12% to 16% for UK adults and by 22% to 29% by US adults.

To read the full article, click: [ Larger-sized portions. ]