McGale Lauren Sophie, Smits Tim, Halford Jason Christian Grovenor, Harrold Joanne Alison, Boyland Emma Jane
Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
Institute for Media Studies, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Pediatr Obes. 2020 Feb;15(2):e12583. doi: 10.1111/ijpo.12583. Epub 2019 Nov 20.
Consumption of large portions of energy-dense foods promotes weight gain in children. Breakfast cereal boxes often show portions much larger than the recommended serving size.
This experimental study investigated whether front-of-package portion size depictions influence children's self-served portions and consumption.
In a between-subjects design, 41 children aged 7-11 years (M= 9.0 ± 1.5y) served themselves breakfast cereal from a box, the front of which depicted either a recommended serving size of cereal (30g) or a larger, more typical front-of-pack portion (90g). Cereal served and consumed and total caloric intake (including milk) was recorded. Height and weight, demographic information and measures of children's food responsiveness and enjoyment of food were collected.
MANOVA revealed that children exposed to the larger portion size served themselves (+7g, 37%) and consumed (+6g, 63%) significantly more cereal than those exposed to the smaller portion. Despite this, overall caloric intake (milk included) did not differ between conditions, and no other measured variables (hunger, BMI) significantly affected the outcomes.
This study provides novel evidence of the influence portion-size depictions on food packaging have on children's eating behaviour. This offers possible avenues for intervention and policy change; however, more research is needed.
食用大量高能量密度食物会促使儿童体重增加。早餐谷物包装盒上展示的分量往往远大于推荐食用量。
这项实验研究调查了包装正面的分量描述是否会影响儿童自己取用的食物分量和摄入量。
在一项组间设计中，41名7至11岁的儿童（平均年龄=9.0±1.5岁）从一个包装盒中自行取用早餐谷物，包装盒正面展示的要么是谷物的推荐食用量（30克），要么是更大、更常见的包装正面分量（90克）。记录取用和食用的谷物量以及总热量摄入（包括牛奶）。收集了身高、体重、人口统计学信息以及儿童对食物反应性和食物喜好的测量数据。
多变量方差分析显示，看到较大分量的儿童自行取用的谷物（多7克，37%）和食用的谷物（多6克，63%）明显多于看到较小分量的儿童。尽管如此，不同条件下的总体热量摄入（包括牛奶）并无差异，且其他测量变量（饥饿程度、体重指数）均未对结果产生显著影响。
本研究为食品包装上的分量描述对儿童饮食行为的影响提供了新证据。这为干预措施和政策变革提供了可能的途径；然而，仍需更多研究。
