your food intake environment

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

Please see the pdf-available below for your information. Loads of

tips on how to eat less. I apologize for the Table shown at the end.

Cheers, Al Pater.

Annu Rev Nutr. 2004;24:455-79.

Environmental factors that increase the food intake and consumption

volume of

unknowing consumers*.

Wansink B.

Package size, plate shape, lighting, socializing, and variety are

only a few of

the environmental factors that can influence the consumption volume

of food far

more than most people realize. Although such environmental factors

appear

unrelated, they generally influence consumption volume by inhibiting

consumption

monitoring and by suggesting alternative consumption norms. For

researchers,

this review suggests that redirecting the focus of investigations to

the

psychological mechanisms behind consumption will raise the profile

and impact of

research. For health professionals, this review underscores how small

structural

changes in personal environments can reduce the unknowing

overconsumption of

food.

PMID: 15189128 [PubMed - in process]

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION .....................................................456

WHAT MEDIATES CONSUMPTION? ....................................458

Consumption Norms Offer Suggestible

Benchmarks ........................458

Consumption Monitoring Moderates Consumption

Discrepancies .............458

HOW THE EATING ENVIRONMENT STIMULATES

CONSUMPTION ....................................................459

Atmospherics Influence Eating

Duration .................................460

Increased Effort Decreases

Consumption .................................461

Socializing Influences Meal Duration and Consumption

Norms ...............462

Distractions Can Initiate, Obscure, and Extend

Consumption .................463

HOW THE FOOD ENVIRONMENT STIMULATES CONSUMPTION ..........464

Salient Food Promotes Salient

Hunger ...................................465

Structure and Perceived Variety Can Drive

Consumption ....................465

The Size of Packages and Portions Suggest Consumption

Norms ..............467

Stockpiled Food Is Quickly

Consumed ...................................468

Serving Containers That Are Wide or Large Create Consumption

Illusions ..........................................................46

8

CONSUMPTION: THE NEXT GENERATION .............................469

Research Advances Through

Theory ....................................469

Consumer Welfare Requires Changing Personal

Environments ................470

INTRODUCTION

Food choice decisions are different from food consumption volume

decisions. The

former determine what we eat (soup or salad); the latter determine

how much we

eat (half of the bowl or all of it). An impressive amount of time,

intelligence,

and resources have been invested in understanding the physiological

mechanisms

that influence food choice (111). A much smaller investment has been

made in

understanding howand why our environment influences food consumption

volume

(42). Yet environmental factors (such as package size, plate shape,

lighting, variety,

or the presence of others) can increase food consumption volume far

more than

people may realize.

This is one of the ironies of food consumption research. Whereas

people will

acknowledge that environmental factors influence others, they often

wrongly be-lieve

they are unaffected (138). This suggests there are influences at a

basic level

of which people are not aware or do not monitor. Understanding these

drivers of

consumption volume has immediate implications for research, nutrition

education,

and consumer welfare (64, 111). This review examines the

environmental factors

that influence consumption intake and why they do so.

Although research on eating should be interdisciplinary, much of it

is not.

Some of these gaps between fields are caused by language differences

that sep-arate

the literatures. For instance, while the words " energy " or " calorie

intake "

are commonly used in the health sciences, words implying more

personal vo-lition,

such as " consumption volume " or " usage, " are often used in the social

sciences. In this review, special effort will be made to introduce

recent findings in

psychology, economics, consumer research, marketing, and family and

consumer

science in addition to underscoring the contributions in nutrition,

dietetics, and

epidemiology.

The environment can be organized into the eating environment (124)

and the

food environment (see Figure 1). The eating environment refers to the

ambient

factors associated with the eating of food, but that are independent

of food, such as

atmospherics, the effort of obtaining food, the social interactions

that occur, and

the distractions that may be taking place. In contrast, the food

environment refers

to factors that directly relate to the way food is provided or

presented, such as its

salience, structure, package or portion size, whether it is

stockpiled, and how it is

served.

Both environments contribute directly to consumption volume; they can

also

contribute indirectly by suggesting consumption norms and inhibiting

consump-tion

monitoring. For instance, dining with a friend can have a direct

impact on

consumption because of the longer duration of the meal. It can also

have an in-direct

impact because of the consumption norms set by the friend—who cleans

his plate and orders a dessert—and because the enjoyment of his or

her company

distracts one away from accurately monitoring consumption.

Although the environmental factors outlined in Figure 1 are discussed

individu-ally

below, it is important to realize that they operate simultaneously.

Consider the

end-of-the-year weight gain that many experience over the holidays

(105, 150).

For most, this weight gain is a combined result of the eating

environment and the

food environment. The holiday eating environment directly encourages

overcon-sumption

because it involves parties (long eating durations), convenient

leftovers

(low eating effort), friends and relatives (eating with others), and

a multitude of

distractions. At the same time the food environment—the salience,

structure, size,

shape, and stockpiles of food—also facilitates overconsumption.

TABLE 1 Altering one's personal environment to help reduce consumption

How environmental factors How one's personal environment can be

altered to

influence consumption help reduce consumption

The eating environment

Eating atmospherics: •Before completing a meal, have the breadbasket

removed

Atmospherics influence or have an entr´ ee portion wrapped up " to

go. " The

eating duration atmosphere of a long and relaxing dinner can then be

enjoyed

without the temptation to overeat.

•Although soft music and candlelight can improve one's

enjoyment of a meal, they have calorie intake consequences.

Instead of lingering and eating a dessert, enjoy a cup

of coffee in the pleasant atmosphere.

Eating effort: Increased effort •Store tempting foods in less-

convenient locations (such as

decreases consumption in a basement or in a top cupboard).

•Do not leave serving bowls and platters on the dinner table.

Keep second servings a safe distance away.

Eating with others: •Decide how much to eat prior to the meal instead

of during it.

Socializing influences meal Order smaller quantities (e.g., half-size

portions) to avoid

duration and consumption " keeping pace " during the meal.

norms •Model the behavior of a person who appears to be eating the

least or the slowest.

Eating distractions: •Discourage " grazing " by focusing only on food.

Try to eat

Distractions can initiate, only when sitting down, and do this at a

distraction-free table.

obscure, and extend •Before eating a distracting meal or snack (such

as eating

consumption while watching television or reading the newspaper),

pre-serve the portions and allow no " refills. "

The food environment (the Five S's)

Salience of food: Salient food •Eliminate the cookie jar, or replace

it with a fruit bowl.

promotes salient hunger •Wrap tempting foods in foil to make them

less visible

and more forgettable.

•Place healthier, low-density foods in the front of the

refrigerator and the less healthy foods in the back.

Structure and variety of food •Avoid multiple bowls of the same food

(such as at

assortments: Structure and parties or receptions) because they

increase perceptions

perceived variety drives of variety and stimulate consumption.

consumption •At buffets and receptions avoid having more than two

different foods on the plate at the same time.

•To discourage others from over-consuming in a high-variety

environment (such as at a reception or dinner party), arrange

foods into organized patterns. Conversely, arrange foods in

less-organized patterns to help stimulate consumption in the

cafeterias of retirement homes and hospitals.

Size of food packages and •Repackage foods into smaller containers to

suggest

portions: The size of smaller consumption norms.

packages and portions •Plate smaller dinner portions in advance.

consumption norms •Never eat from a package. Always transfer food to a

plate or bowl in order to make portion estimation easier.

Stockpiling of food: Stockpiled •Out of sight is out of mind. Reduce

the visibility of

food is quickly consumed stockpiled foods by moving them to the

basement or to

a cupboard immediately after they are purchased.

•Reduce the convenience of stockpiled foods by boxing

them up or freezing them.

•Stockpile healthy, low-energy-density foods

to stimulate their consumption and to leave less

room for their high-density counterparts.

Serving containers: Serving •Replace short wide glasses with tall

narrow ones.

containers that are wide •Reduce serving sizes and consumption by

using

or large create consumption smaller bowls and plates.

illusions •Use smaller spoons rather than larger ones when serving

oneself or when eating from a bowl.