Food & life · 2017
Does food seem more filling when the same calories are shown in several smaller portions?
Yes. In a computer-based study, 68 participants expected food shown in several smaller portions to be more filling than food with the same calories shown as a single portion. These were judgments about expected hunger relief, not measurements of fullness after eating.
Details
Researchers showed salted peanuts, spaghetti Bolognese, and chicken tikka masala as a single portion or divided into three or six smaller portions. Calories were held equal across presentations. Participants rated how well each serving would relieve hunger between meals and how much space the food appeared to occupy.
Across the foods, dividing a serving into smaller portions increased its expected ability to relieve hunger. The results also indicated that the food appearing to occupy more space explained this increase.
These expectations matter because they help shape the portion sizes people select. However, this experiment did not establish that dividing food this way makes people feel fuller after eating, eat less, or maintain a healthier weight.
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