Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2012 Jan-Feb;44(1):66-70.
doi: 10.1016/j.jneb.2011.03.001. Epub 2011 Oct 6.

Serving bowl selection biases the amount of food served

Ellen van Kleef  1 , Mitsuru Shimizu, Brian Wansink
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Serving bowl selection biases the amount of food served

Ellen van Kleef et al. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2012 Jan-Feb.

Abstract

Objective: To determine how common serving bowls containing food for multiple persons influence serving behavior and consumption and whether they do so independently of satiation and food evaluation.

Methods: In this between-subjects experiment, 68 participants were randomly assigned to either a group serving pasta from a large-sized bowl (6.9-L capacity) or a medium-sized bowl (3.8-L capacity).

Results: Analysis of covariance showed that when given a large-sized bowl, diners served 77% more pasta (364.0 vs. 205.5 g; P < .01) and felt more satiated (P = .03) compared with diners given a medium-sized bowl, even though the food was not rated tastier or otherwise notable (all P > .32).

Conclusions and implications: In contrast to those in studies involving larger-sized plates and spoons, people serving from larger bowls felt more satiated. These findings again highlight the role that external cues play in food consumption and show the importance of considering serving bowl size in nutrition education.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types