English Laural, Lasschuijt Marlou, Keller Kathleen L
Department of Nutritional Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, United States.
Department of Nutritional Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, United States; Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Netherlands.
Appetite. 2015 May;88:39-49. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2014.11.004. Epub 2014 Nov 11.
Childhood obesity is a persistent problem worldwide, and of particular concern in the United States. Clarifying the role of the food environment in promoting overeating is an important step toward reducing the prevalence of obesity. One potential contributor to the obesity epidemic is the increased portion sizes of foods commonly served. Portion sizes of foods served both at home and away from home have dramatically increased over the past 40 years. Consistently, short-term studies have demonstrated that increasing portion size leads to increased food intake in adults and children, a phenomenon known as the portion size effect. However, the mechanisms underlying this effect are poorly understood. Understanding these mechanisms could assist in clarifying the relationship between portion size and weight status and help inform the development of effective obesity interventions. First, we review the role of visual cues, such as plate size, unit, and utensil size as a potential moderator of the portion size effect. In addition, we discuss meal microstructure components including bite size, rate, and frequency, as these may be altered in response to different portion sizes. We also review theories that implicate post-ingestive, flavor-nutrient learning as a key moderator of the portion size effect. Furthermore, we present preliminary data from an ongoing study that is applying neuroimaging to better understand these mechanisms and identify modifiable child characteristics that could be targeted in obesity interventions. Our tentative findings suggest that individual differences in cognitive (e.g. loss of control eating) and neural responses to food cues may be critical in understanding the mechanisms of the portion size effect. To advance this research area, studies that integrate measures of individual subject-level differences with assessment of food-related characteristics are needed.
儿童肥胖是一个全球性的长期问题，在美国尤其令人担忧。阐明食物环境在促进暴饮暴食方面的作用是降低肥胖患病率的重要一步。肥胖流行的一个潜在因素是常见食物的份量增加。在过去40年里，家庭内外提供的食物份量都大幅增加。一致的是，短期研究表明，增加食物份量会导致成人和儿童的食物摄入量增加，这一现象被称为份量效应。然而，这种效应背后的机制却知之甚少。了解这些机制有助于阐明份量与体重状况之间的关系，并为制定有效的肥胖干预措施提供依据。首先，我们回顾视觉线索的作用，如餐盘大小、食物单位和餐具大小，它们可能是份量效应的潜在调节因素。此外，我们讨论用餐微观结构的组成部分，包括一口的大小、进食速度和频率，因为这些可能会因不同的食物份量而改变。我们还回顾了一些理论，这些理论认为摄入后味觉-营养学习是份量效应的关键调节因素。此外，我们展示了一项正在进行的研究的初步数据，该研究正在应用神经成像技术来更好地理解这些机制，并确定在肥胖干预中可以针对的可改变的儿童特征。我们的初步研究结果表明，认知方面的个体差异（如失控进食）以及对食物线索的神经反应，可能是理解份量效应机制的关键。为了推动这一研究领域的发展，需要将个体受试者水平差异的测量与食物相关特征的评估相结合的研究。
