Study: Reducing the Size of Plates is the Key to Solving Obesity

A recent study published in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research has concluded that the obesity crisis is largely the result of a design flaw.

The new findings don’t suggest previous research linking obesity to unprecedented fat, sugar, and processed food intake, as well as severe lack of exercise, is meaningless per se, but they do urge plate designers around the world to acknowledge their role in shaping the most overweight generation in history.

“Simply switching to smaller plates can help curb overeating” reads the paper. Researchers found that reducing the diameter of a plate by 30 percent can also cut food consumption by 30 percent, which makes sense given the natural human tendency to fill tableware to the brim with food when in the absence of restrictions.

More than 50 studies that examined the effects of plate size on food consumption were sourced for the work, which factored in conditions like choice of food, plate-type like bowls vs. plates, serving platter vs. plate, or portion-size and setting.

One thing it failed to consider is desire and access to seconds on account of not being full from a smaller plate of food.

So in the words of joint-author Natalina Zlatevska of Australia’s Bond University, “just change to smaller plates at home,” damn it.

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