This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing theresources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject andinvestigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source,and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed isfor the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator.ABSTRACTThe current prevalence of childhood overweight is alarmingly high. This rapidly developing epidemic has highlighted the need to identify contributing environmental factors. Reprots of excessive and growing protion sizes lend credence to concerns that large portions may encourage child overweight. The only two published investigations in children revelaed that large entree portions produced excessive consumption at meals. However, allowing children to serve themselves resulted in serving sizes and intakes that were smaller than when served large portions. The proposed investigtion involves four behavioral experiments designed to elucidate influences on children's self-served portion sizes. Two experiments will be conducted at Baylor College of Medicine and the oters at The Pennsylvania State University. Experiments to be conducted at Baylor College of Medicine will evaluate the role of visual cues on children's self-served protion sizes and intake. Experiment 1 will determine the effects of the amount of food and tableware size on children's self-selected portions and intake. Experiment 2 will determine the effects of plate size and unit food (i.e. cookies, pizza) size on children's self-selected portions and intake.HYPOTHESISExperiment 11. Children will self-serve larger portions when larger amounts of food are available than when smaller amounts are available.2. Children will serve larger portions when using larger, serving spoons than when using smaller tablespoons.Experiment 21. Children's self-served portion sizes will increase as the size of the unit food increases.2. Children will self-serve smaller portions when using smaller plates than when using larger plates.
SPECIFIC AIMS The proposed basic behavioral research will initiate controlled experiments to identify influences on children's self-served portion sizes.
The specific aims are as follows:1. To determine whether the amount of food available and serving spoon size affect children's self-selected portions (Experiment 1).2. To determine whether unit foods and plate size affect children's self-selected portions (Experiment 2).
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