Crockery choice 'may aid weight loss'
Choosing the right bowls and plates could help to promote weight loss, new research suggests.Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Cornell University found that people who used large plates served up to 31 per cent more food than usual.
The study, which required 225 students to pour a specified amount of tomato soup into one of seven different bowls, also revealed that the colour of the crockery could play a role.
For instance, using a plate that contrasted with the colour of the food itself was found to be associated with smaller serving sizes.
Publishing their findings in the Journal of Consumer Research, the study authors observed that the average size of dinner plates has increased by almost a quarter since 1900.
They suggested: "In the midst of hard-wired perceptual biases, a straightforward action would be to simply eliminate large dinnerware - replace our larger bowls and plates with smaller ones or contrast ones."
The study follows recent research by scientists at the University of Utah, who found that eating with a large fork could lead people to consume much less food than with a smaller utensil.
