The problem of large portion sizes: a norm-comparison theory explaining the psychological influence and public health implications of food portion size

IF 2.5 3区医学 Q2 BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

Physiology & Behavior Pub Date : 2025-07-25 DOI:10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115038

Eric Robinson , Ashleigh Haynes

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Portion size of food has a causal influence on human energy intake and historic increases in commercial food product portion sizes are suggested to have contributed to population-level obesity. A norm-comparison theory explains the influence of food portion size and suggests that increasing portion sizes are problematic for two reasons. First, this norm-comparison theory explains why changes to food portion size can have a sizeable influence on energy intake during a meal without inviting later compensatory eating behaviour. Second, because there is no objectively ‘correct’ portion size for any given food, exposure to larger portion sizes recalibrates perceptions of what a normal amount to eat is for any given food. Over time this process will have caused preferred portion sizes to shift upwards and contributed to increases in population level energy intake. However, a norm-comparison theory of food portion size also has implications for how to address the problem of excessively large portion sizes and guide public health measures to decrease population energy intake and body weight.

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大份量的问题：解释食物份量的心理影响和公共健康影响的标准比较理论

食物份量对人体能量摄入有因果影响，商业食品份量的历史增加被认为是导致人口肥胖的原因。标准比较理论解释了食物份量的影响，并指出增加份量是有问题的，原因有两个。首先，这个标准比较理论解释了为什么食物份量的变化可以对一顿饭中的能量摄入产生相当大的影响，而不会引起后来的补偿性饮食行为。其次，因为任何食物都没有客观的“正确”份量，所以接触更大份量的食物会重新调整对任何食物的正常食量的看法。随着时间的推移，这一过程将导致偏好的份量向上转移，并促进人口能量摄入量的增加。然而，食物份量的标准比较理论也对如何解决食物份量过大的问题和指导公共卫生措施以减少人口能量摄入和体重具有启示意义。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Physiology & Behavior 医学-行为科学

CiteScore

5.70

自引率

3.40%

发文量

274

审稿时长

47 days

期刊介绍： Physiology & Behavior is aimed at the causal physiological mechanisms of behavior and its modulation by environmental factors. The journal invites original reports in the broad area of behavioral and cognitive neuroscience, in which at least one variable is physiological and the primary emphasis and theoretical context are behavioral. The range of subjects includes behavioral neuroendocrinology, psychoneuroimmunology, learning and memory, ingestion, social behavior, and studies related to the mechanisms of psychopathology. Contemporary reviews and theoretical articles are welcomed and the Editors invite such proposals from interested authors.