Heaping helpings encourage kids to overeat

Parents who avoid piling oversized portions on children's plates could be helping their pint-size diners avoid super-sized appetites and whopper waistlines.

A recent study by CNRC behavioral nutrition scientist Dr. Jennifer Fisher has found that portion size can affect how much some kids eat.

"Preschoolers in our study ate an average of 25 percent more macaroni and cheese when the lunchtime serving was doubled," Fisher said.

Since eating more mac-and-cheese didn't curb the youngsters' appetites for other foods, Fisher found that average lunchtime calorie counts jumped a belt-busting 15 percent on days when the entree was super-sized.

"The power of large portions to encourage overeating among young children is a warning flag," Fisher said. "Because not only do today's families eat out and take-out more often than in the past, but restaurant, beverage and snack food portions keep getting bigger."

However, Fisher also noted that the children did not all responded the same when served heaping helpings. While some ate as much as 60 to 80 percent more, others ate about the same amount regardless of the portion size served.

"We don't know why some children were more susceptible to large portions," she said. "However, the children most responsive to large portions were also those who consumed the greatest amount of snack foods in the absence of hunger during another phase of the study. We also found that overeaters tended to consume their extra calories not by eating faster, but by taking bigger bites."

According to Fisher, the study findings suggest a link between an increased susceptible to external eating cues like super-sized portions and a diminished ability to recognize or respond to internal satiety cues.

"Interestingly, we also found that large portions seem to lose the power to promote overeating when children are allowed to serve themselves," Fisher said. When the super-sized entrees were in serving bowls instead of piled on children's plates, the amount the children served themselves and ate mirrored the amount they typically consumed when served "single-size" entrees.

"Young children are not immune to the power of large portions," she said. "But, simple mealtime strategies like encouraging "small bites" and serving family-style meals can help kids avoid the temptation to overeat."

Editor's note: Fisher presented the findings of her study, which involved 30 children attending preschool at Penn State University, at the North American Association for the Study of Obesity meeting in October.

Also see:
Healthy eating habits