Downsizing food: a systematic review and meta-analysis examining the effect of reducing served food portion sizes on daily energy intake and body weight

Abstract

Portion sizes of many foods have increased over time. However, the size of effect that reducing food portion sizes has on daily energy intake and body weight is less clear. We used systematic review methodology to identify eligible articles that used an experimental design to manipulate portion size served to human participants and measured energy intake for a minimum of one day. Searches were conducted in September 2020 and again in October 2021. Fourteen eligible studies contributing 85 effects were included in the primary meta-analysis. There was a moderate-to-large reduction in daily energy intake when comparing smaller vs. larger portions (SMD = -.709 [95% CI: -.956 to -.461], ∼235kcal). Larger reductions to portion size resulted in larger decreases in daily energy intake. There was evidence of a curvilinear relationship between portion size and daily energy intake; reductions to daily energy intake were markedly smaller when reducing portion size from very large portions. In a subset of studies that measured body weight (4 studies contributing 5 comparisons), being served smaller vs. larger portions was associated with less weight gain (0.58kg). Reducing food portion sizes may be an effective population level strategy to prevent weight gain.

Socioeconomic position and the influence of food portion size on daily energy intake in adult females: two randomized control trials

“…The copyright holder for this this version posted December 20, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.12.20.22283727 doi: medRxiv preprint Our findings are consistent with a large body of evidence showing that smaller portions decrease energy intake (13,14) and this is consistent with recent research which suggests that changes to portion size are not fully compensated for over the course of a day (15,31). The present results are nothoweverconsistent with findings from a recent study which found that lower SEP individuals were more susceptible to the portion size effect, intending to eat more from large portions of unhealthy snacks than higher SEP individuals in a hypothetical task (17).…”

“…Energy intake was measured for a day. Although the influence portion size has on daily energy intake has been shown to be similar over time (i.e., effects when measured during a single day are similar to longer durations) (15), confirming findings over longer duration would be valuable.…”

“…This is concerning given robust evidence that eating from larger compared to smaller portions increases energy intake, a phenomenon known as the 'portion size effect' (PSE) (13,14). A recent metaanalysis revealed that individuals do not fully compensate for changes to portion size over the course of a day (15) and therefore larger portion sizes likely promote increased weight gain (16). Intriguingly, there is some preliminary evidence that the influence of portion size may differ based on SEP, with one study finding that the PSE on hypothetical consumption of unhealthy snacks was larger for participants of lower vs. higher SEP (17).…”

The impact of increasing the availability of lower energy foods for home delivery and socio-economic position: a randomised control trial examining effects on meal energy intake and later energy intake

“…We examined energy intake for 24-hours and it is plausible that greater compensation would occur over longer-time frames. However, findings on energy intake compensation over time suggest that any increase in compensation over time would likely be small (15,16) . The experimental design allowed us to isolate the independent effect of increasing availability of lower energy options, but in doing so price was held constant across availability conditions.…”

Photovoice tresna elikadura-ingurunearen azterketa kualitatiborako

“…Ohitura aldagarria denez, mundu mailan ematen diren 5 heriotzetatik 1 elikaduraren kalitatea hobetuz ekidin daiteke [1]. Izan ere, elikagaien aukerak eragina du herritarren osasunean eta obesitate datuetan [2,3]. Adibidez, hainbat egoera kronikoen agerpena, hala nola, gaixotasun kardiobaskularrak, minbiziak, diabetesa eta abar, lotuta dago haragi gorri eta prozesatu, zereal ale findu eta azukredun janarietan oinarritutako elikadura izatearekin.…”