Wansink Brian, Wansink Audrey
Behavioral Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, USA.
New Visions Program, Lansing High School, Lansing, USA.
Cureus. 2022 May 23;14(5):e25231. doi: 10.7759/cureus.25231. eCollection 2022 May.
Introduction The objective of this article is to analyze whether visual plate-related dietary guidance systems - such as the MyPlate guideline or the Half-Plate Rule - help people eat better when dining at home or in restaurants. Methods To help explore this, 104 young adults were randomly assigned to follow either (1) USDA MyPlate guidelines, (2) the Half-Plate Rule, or (3) no guidelines (control condition). They then used their assigned guidelines to complete the survey while eating a dinner of their choice. They completed a food diary for the meal and then completed a survey about their experience. Results Both the two visual dietary guidance systems (My Plate and the Half-Plate Rule) were considered easy to understand and easy to follow, and they left people with fewer questions about what to eat (all p < 0.01). Understandability is important because those people who rated a system "easy to follow" indicated they had consumed less meat than usual (r = 0.268), but understandability was uncorrelated with fruit and vegetable intake (r = 0.092) and carbohydrate intake (r = 0.069). Conclusions There are three key conclusions to these and other findings: first, the simplest guidance system may be more effective than none. Second, even the most perfect dietary guidance system will not change behavior if (a) the foods are not available, or (b) it is not followed. Third, guidance systems could increase the consumption of some foods (such as dairy) they specifically mention, presumably because it makes them more salient in one's mind.
引言 本文的目的是分析与餐盘相关的视觉饮食指导系统——如“我的餐盘”指南或“半盘规则”——在人们在家或在餐馆用餐时是否有助于他们吃得更健康。方法 为了探究这一点，104名年轻人被随机分配，分别遵循以下三种方式之一：(1)美国农业部的“我的餐盘”指南；(2)“半盘规则”；(3)无指导原则（对照条件）。然后，他们按照分配的指导原则，在享用自选晚餐时完成一份调查问卷。他们记录了这顿饭的食物日记，之后又完成了一份关于用餐体验的调查问卷。结果 两种视觉饮食指导系统（“我的餐盘”和“半盘规则”）都被认为易于理解和遵循，而且它们让人们对吃什么的疑问更少（所有p < 0.01）。可理解性很重要，因为那些将某一系统评为“易于遵循”的人表示，他们摄入的肉类比平时少（r = 0.268），但可理解性与水果和蔬菜摄入量（r = 0.092）以及碳水化合物摄入量（r = 0.069）无关。结论 这些发现以及其他发现有三个关键结论：第一，最简单的指导系统可能比没有指导更有效。第二，如果（a）没有可获取的食物，或者（b）不遵循指导，那么即使是最完美的饮食指导系统也不会改变行为。第三，指导系统可能会增加它们特别提及的某些食物（如乳制品）的消费量，大概是因为这会使这些食物在人们心中更加突出。
