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
. 2012 May-Jun;44(3):251-5.
doi: 10.1016/j.jneb.2011.07.007. Epub 2012 Mar 3.

"Split them!" smaller item sizes of cookies lead to a decrease in energy intake in children

David Marchiori  1 , Laurent Waroquier, Olivier Klein
Affiliations

"Split them!" smaller item sizes of cookies lead to a decrease in energy intake in children

David Marchiori et al. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2012 May-Jun.

Abstract

Objective: Examine the influence of altering the size of snack food (ie, small vs large cookies) on short-term energy intake.

Methods: First- and sixth-graders (n = 77) participated in a between-subjects experimental design. All participants were offered the same gram weight of cookies during an afternoon tea at their school. For half of the participants, food was cut in 2 to make the small item size. Food intake (number of cookies, gram weight, and energy intake) was examined using ANOVA.

Results: Decreasing the item size of food led to a decrease of 25% in gram weight intake, corresponding to 68 kcal. Appetitive ratings and subject and food characteristics had no moderating effect.

Conclusions and implications: Reducing the item size of food could prove a useful dietary prevention strategy based on decreased consumption, aimed at countering obesity-promoting eating behaviors favored by the easy availability of large food portions.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types