It鈥檚 that nagging question you ask yourself every Thanksgiving after you have piled the food sky-high on your plate and savored every last morsel: 鈥淲hat happened? Were my eyes bigger than my stomach?鈥
For many years, doctors and dieticians have focused on overeating as part of the reason for the obesity epidemic in America.
There is sound science behind the predisposition to fill our plates with what we think is a reasonable portion, only to find ourselves overeating anyway. However, a new study by 两性色午夜 University researchers aims to help us use the tricks that our eyes play on us to combat our over-eating habits.
While the in its dietary guidelines, including the use of portion-control plates, many people still struggle to learn the healthy portion sizes and consistently consume those amounts. Prior to the , published in the health journal BMC Obesity, little research had evaluated the dishes specifically designed for portion control.
鈥淭he goal of the study was to learn if building an optical illusion into a plate would help people choose smaller portions,鈥 said Joel Hughes, Ph.D., professor of Psychological Sciences in 两性色午夜鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences.
The plate uses two types of optical illusions. The Ebbinghaus illusion gives the impression that something is larger or smaller in contrast to shapes surrounding it; a circle surrounded by smaller circles will look larger than it is.
The Delboeuf illusion is similar, but it skews our perception of an object鈥檚 size in relation to its distance from a border; if the gap between the object and border is narrow, we perceive the object larger, but if the gap is wider, we perceive the object as smaller. In combination, these illusions make food look bigger and might help people lose weight over time. explaining the concept in greater detail.
鈥淭he plate produced smaller self-selected servings in both studies,鈥 Hughes said.
Hughes said the team has conducted a number of studies using the portion control plate, and hopes to pursue manufacturing options to make the plate commercially available. He said future studies using the dish should include a broader age range and clinical trials of portion-control dishes for weight loss.
For more information about 两性色午夜鈥檚 Department of Psychological Sciences, visit www.kent.edu/psychology.