Researcher Links Obesity, Food Portions

Researcher Links Obesity, Food Portions

January 2, 2004 02:05 PM EST

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - With self-refilling bowls of soup and jumbo
buckets of stale popcorn, professor Brian Wansink has
identified one culprit for U.S. obesity: excessive food portions.

The University of Illinois researcher has set up several
food experiments that show the more people are given, the
more they will eat - regardless of whether they are full
or think the food tastes good.

"In the obesity war, portion size is the first casualty,"
said Wansink, who founded the University of Illinois'
Food & Brand Lab. "It's easy to point at, and we don't have
to take responsibility because we can blame the restaurant
or the packaged food manufacturer."

Wansink and other researchers hope the results can help the
federal government devise more user-friendly nutrition labels
for packaged foods. For example, instead of stating that a
handful of granola has 200 calories, the label instead could
say the consumer would have to walk 2 miles to burn it off.

His experiments - which have included tomato soup, popcorn
and potato visual clues people use to tell them it's time
to stop eating.

In the soup experiment, participants come to the lab
expecting a taste test. Some bowls are rigged with hidden
tubes that keep them full, while others are not.

Over two years of the experiment, students with bottomless
bowls tended to eat 40 percent more than test subjects with
regular bowls.

"I wasn't aware of it," said Nina Huesgen, one of the students
who got a trick bowl in a recent experiment. "That's why I
feel so filled up, I guess."

James Painter, chairman of Eastern Illinois University's
Family and Consumer Sciences Department, who collaborated
with Wansink on the experiment, said one student drank almost
a quart of soup.

"I said, 'What were you doing?' And he said, 'I was trying
to reach the bottom of the bowl,'" Painter said.

Another telling experiment came outside Philadelphia, where
Wansink offered free popcorn to moviegoers at a $1 movie
theater. Half the audience was given fresh popcorn, either
in small containers or in jumbo buckets; half received
14-day-old popcorn in small and jumbo containers.

Even though 82 percent of the people with the old popcorn
reported it tasted terrible, those with the jumbo buckets
ate 33 percent more than those with the smaller container.

Wansink has come up with ways the food industry could help,
such as offering visual clues to what an adequate portion
should be.

An experiment with Lay's Stax potato chips gave one group
regular chips, a second group chips in which every seventh
chip was red, and a third group chips in which every 14th
chip was red.

The groups weren't told the reason for the red chips but
still used them to determine how much to eat, Wansink said.
The participants who ate the least had the potato chips in
which every seventh chip was red, followed by the group in
which every 14th chip was red.

Such research has produced commonsense tips for the
weight-conscious.

For example, people who drank out of short, fat glasses
consumed considerably more than those who used tall, skinny
glasses, even though the glasses held the same amount.

"The tendency we have is to focus on heights instead of widths,"
Wansink wrote in a report on the study. "That's why, for instance,
people say, 'Boy, is the St. Louis Arch high.' But they never say,
'Boy, is it wide,' even though the dimensions are identical."

In article , Wm Harmon
wrote:

Researcher Links Obesity, Food Portions

January 2, 2004 02:05 PM EST

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - With self-refilling bowls of soup and jumbo
buckets of stale popcorn, professor Brian Wansink has
identified one culprit for U.S. obesity: excessive food portions.

The University of Illinois researcher has set up several
food experiments that show the more people are given, the
more they will eat - regardless of whether they are full
or think the food tastes good.

"In the obesity war, portion size is the first casualty,"
said Wansink, who founded the University of Illinois'
Food & Brand Lab. "It's easy to point at, and we don't have
to take responsibility because we can blame the restaurant
or the packaged food manufacturer."

Wansink and other researchers hope the results can help the
federal government devise more user-friendly nutrition labels
for packaged foods. For example, instead of stating that a
handful of granola has 200 calories, the label instead could
say the consumer would have to walk 2 miles to burn it off.

His experiments - which have included tomato soup, popcorn
and potato visual clues people use to tell them it's time
to stop eating.

In the soup experiment, participants come to the lab
expecting a taste test. Some bowls are rigged with hidden
tubes that keep them full, while others are not.

Over two years of the experiment, students with bottomless
bowls tended to eat 40 percent more than test subjects with
regular bowls.

"I wasn't aware of it," said Nina Huesgen, one of the students
who got a trick bowl in a recent experiment. "That's why I
feel so filled up, I guess."

James Painter, chairman of Eastern Illinois University's
Family and Consumer Sciences Department, who collaborated
with Wansink on the experiment, said one student drank almost
a quart of soup.

"I said, 'What were you doing?' And he said, 'I was trying
to reach the bottom of the bowl,'" Painter said.

Another telling experiment came outside Philadelphia, where
Wansink offered free popcorn to moviegoers at a $1 movie
theater. Half the audience was given fresh popcorn, either
in small containers or in jumbo buckets; half received
14-day-old popcorn in small and jumbo containers.

Even though 82 percent of the people with the old popcorn
reported it tasted terrible, those with the jumbo buckets
ate 33 percent more than those with the smaller container.

Wansink has come up with ways the food industry could help,
such as offering visual clues to what an adequate portion
should be.

An experiment with Lay's Stax potato chips gave one group
regular chips, a second group chips in which every seventh
chip was red, and a third group chips in which every 14th
chip was red.

The groups weren't told the reason for the red chips but
still used them to determine how much to eat, Wansink said.
The participants who ate the least had the potato chips in
which every seventh chip was red, followed by the group in
which every 14th chip was red.

Such research has produced commonsense tips for the
weight-conscious.

For example, people who drank out of short, fat glasses
consumed considerably more than those who used tall, skinny
glasses, even though the glasses held the same amount.

"The tendency we have is to focus on heights instead of widths,"
Wansink wrote in a report on the study. "That's why, for instance,
people say, 'Boy, is the St. Louis Arch high.' But they never say,
'Boy, is it wide,' even though the dimensions are identical."

Agreed. Tell Elaine benes she should not keep asking george to treat
her to "The Big Salad".

--
Diva
********
Completing 4 years of maintenance

Three words: Two Pound Diet

==================================================

On Sat, 03 Jan 2004 01:01:21 -0500, Wm Harmon
wrote:

Researcher Links Obesity, Food Portions

January 2, 2004 02:05 PM EST

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - With self-refilling bowls of soup and jumbo
buckets of stale popcorn, professor Brian Wansink has
identified one culprit for U.S. obesity: excessive food portions.

The University of Illinois researcher has set up several
food experiments that show the more people are given, the
more they will eat - regardless of whether they are full
or think the food tastes good.

"In the obesity war, portion size is the first casualty,"
said Wansink, who founded the University of Illinois'
Food & Brand Lab. "It's easy to point at, and we don't have
to take responsibility because we can blame the restaurant
or the packaged food manufacturer."

Wansink and other researchers hope the results can help the
federal government devise more user-friendly nutrition labels
for packaged foods. For example, instead of stating that a
handful of granola has 200 calories, the label instead could
say the consumer would have to walk 2 miles to burn it off.

His experiments - which have included tomato soup, popcorn
and potato visual clues people use to tell them it's time
to stop eating.

In the soup experiment, participants come to the lab
expecting a taste test. Some bowls are rigged with hidden
tubes that keep them full, while others are not.

Over two years of the experiment, students with bottomless
bowls tended to eat 40 percent more than test subjects with
regular bowls.

"I wasn't aware of it," said Nina Huesgen, one of the students
who got a trick bowl in a recent experiment. "That's why I
feel so filled up, I guess."

James Painter, chairman of Eastern Illinois University's
Family and Consumer Sciences Department, who collaborated
with Wansink on the experiment, said one student drank almost
a quart of soup.

"I said, 'What were you doing?' And he said, 'I was trying
to reach the bottom of the bowl,'" Painter said.

Another telling experiment came outside Philadelphia, where
Wansink offered free popcorn to moviegoers at a $1 movie
theater. Half the audience was given fresh popcorn, either
in small containers or in jumbo buckets; half received
14-day-old popcorn in small and jumbo containers.

Even though 82 percent of the people with the old popcorn
reported it tasted terrible, those with the jumbo buckets
ate 33 percent more than those with the smaller container.

Wansink has come up with ways the food industry could help,
such as offering visual clues to what an adequate portion
should be.

An experiment with Lay's Stax potato chips gave one group
regular chips, a second group chips in which every seventh
chip was red, and a third group chips in which every 14th
chip was red.

The groups weren't told the reason for the red chips but
still used them to determine how much to eat, Wansink said.
The participants who ate the least had the potato chips in
which every seventh chip was red, followed by the group in
which every 14th chip was red.

Such research has produced commonsense tips for the
weight-conscious.

For example, people who drank out of short, fat glasses
consumed considerably more than those who used tall, skinny
glasses, even though the glasses held the same amount.

"The tendency we have is to focus on heights instead of widths,"
Wansink wrote in a report on the study. "That's why, for instance,
people say, 'Boy, is the St. Louis Arch high.' But they never say,
'Boy, is it wide,' even though the dimensions are identical."


http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040102.html
Lift well, Eat less, Walk fast, Live long.

"Carol Frilegh" wrote in message
...
In article , Wm Harmon
wrote:

Researcher Links Obesity, Food Portions

January 2, 2004 02:05 PM EST

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - With self-refilling bowls of soup and jumbo
buckets of stale popcorn, professor Brian Wansink has
identified one culprit for U.S. obesity: excessive food portions.

The University of Illinois researcher has set up several
food experiments that show the more people are given, the
more they will eat - regardless of whether they are full
or think the food tastes good.

"In the obesity war, portion size is the first casualty,"
said Wansink, who founded the University of Illinois'
Food & Brand Lab. "It's easy to point at, and we don't have
to take responsibility because we can blame the restaurant
or the packaged food manufacturer."

Wansink and other researchers hope the results can help the
federal government devise more user-friendly nutrition labels
for packaged foods. For example, instead of stating that a
handful of granola has 200 calories, the label instead could
say the consumer would have to walk 2 miles to burn it off.

His experiments - which have included tomato soup, popcorn
and potato visual clues people use to tell them it's time
to stop eating.

In the soup experiment, participants come to the lab
expecting a taste test. Some bowls are rigged with hidden
tubes that keep them full, while others are not.

Over two years of the experiment, students with bottomless
bowls tended to eat 40 percent more than test subjects with
regular bowls.

"I wasn't aware of it," said Nina Huesgen, one of the students
who got a trick bowl in a recent experiment. "That's why I
feel so filled up, I guess."

James Painter, chairman of Eastern Illinois University's
Family and Consumer Sciences Department, who collaborated
with Wansink on the experiment, said one student drank almost
a quart of soup.

"I said, 'What were you doing?' And he said, 'I was trying
to reach the bottom of the bowl,'" Painter said.

Another telling experiment came outside Philadelphia, where
Wansink offered free popcorn to moviegoers at a $1 movie
theater. Half the audience was given fresh popcorn, either
in small containers or in jumbo buckets; half received
14-day-old popcorn in small and jumbo containers.

Even though 82 percent of the people with the old popcorn
reported it tasted terrible, those with the jumbo buckets
ate 33 percent more than those with the smaller container.

Wansink has come up with ways the food industry could help,
such as offering visual clues to what an adequate portion
should be.

An experiment with Lay's Stax potato chips gave one group
regular chips, a second group chips in which every seventh
chip was red, and a third group chips in which every 14th
chip was red.

The groups weren't told the reason for the red chips but
still used them to determine how much to eat, Wansink said.
The participants who ate the least had the potato chips in
which every seventh chip was red, followed by the group in
which every 14th chip was red.

Such research has produced commonsense tips for the
weight-conscious.

For example, people who drank out of short, fat glasses
consumed considerably more than those who used tall, skinny
glasses, even though the glasses held the same amount.

"The tendency we have is to focus on heights instead of widths,"
Wansink wrote in a report on the study. "That's why, for instance,
people say, 'Boy, is the St. Louis Arch high.' But they never say,
'Boy, is it wide,' even though the dimensions are identical."

Agreed. Tell Elaine benes she should not keep asking george to treat
her to "The Big Salad".

--
Diva
********
Completing 4 years of maintenance

I'd rather tell Jared to come out from behind that desk and show us how well
he's been maintaining on Subway.

Tonia