Using the Norm Range to Predict the Effect of Food Portion Size Reductions on Compensation Over 5 Days

Reducing food portion size is a potential strategy to reduce energy intake. However it is unclear at what point consumers compensate for reductions in portion size by increasing energy intake from other items. This could result in no overall benefit of reducing food portion sizes. The investigators tested the hypothesis that reductions to the portion size of components of a main meal will only result in significant compensatory eating when the reduced portion size is no longer visually perceived as 'normal'. In a crossover experiment, participants were served different sized portions during lunch and dinner over 5 days: a 'large-normal', a 'small-normal', and a 'smaller than normal' portion. Intake from all other meal components consumed in the laboratory were measured.