"People may decide to eat grapes instead of potato chips because it's healthier. Once they make that initial choice, they tend not to monitor how much they eat. And a pound of grapes isn't calorie-free."
The researchers say we need to become more aware of how color, package size, variety and physical proximity influence the amount of food we ingest.
"If we ate 100 fewer calories a day, instead of gaining 10 pounds at the end of a year, maybe we'd lose 10 pounds. Small factors, like the type of candy bowl in your office, might add five more Hershey's Kisses a day to your diet," he said. "...[After] a month of weekdays, that's 2,500 calories, or two-thirds of a pound."
Wansink offered several tips about ways to curb overeating:
- Avoid multiple bowls of the same food at parties or receptions because they increase perceptions of variety and stimulate overeating.
- At buffets and receptions avoid having more than two different foods on your plate at the same time.
Wansink's tips for parents and food vendors to promote healthy eating include:
- Arrange foods into organized patterns and avoid cramming meal tables or restaurant display cases with too much variety.
- Arrange fruits and vegetables in less-organized patterns to stimulate appetites.
- Assemble smaller helpings of more items for children or elderly adults with finicky eating habits.
This story is comprised of content adapted from a news release provided by the University of Illinois.
