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Could your plate size determine your waist size?

By Brittany Doohan

Can switching to a smaller plate help you eat less? Some researchers have found that using smaller plates helps reduce food intake, but others haven’t had the same results. So, what’s a weight loss hopeful to do?  

Thankfully, a recent review of studies published in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research has helped clear things up. It found that cutting the size of your plate in half (or reducing its diameter by 30%) led to a 30% reduction in the amount of food consumed, on average. This was only true under certain conditions, however.

What Factors Really Lead You to Eat Less  

The 50+ studies that tried to prove or disprove the smaller-plate-smaller-waist theory addressed a number of variables, including the type of food eaten, the type of plate used, the portion size served and the setting the subjects were in. This helped the review’s authors uncover two important factors that led participants to eat less:

The first was that people had to serve their own meals. That is, if people were invited to serve themselves and given smaller plates, they piled on less and therefore ate less.

The second was that people needed to be unaware that they were being monitored. When people knew they were part of a study, the size of their plate didn’t affect their consumption, which may explain why many studies conducted in food labs, where people definitely were aware of being watched, found no association between smaller plate size and reduced food intake.

How to Make Them Work for You

When you’re anywhere that you’re able to serve yourself — like at home, at a buffet or at a dinner party — pick a smaller plate to help curb overeating. Chances are you’ll fill your plate with less food because the only one monitoring your intake is you. 

And remember, whether you’re using a normal-sized dinner plate, a salad plate or a bowl, what’s on the plate is important, too. Make sure 1/4 features lean meat or other protein, 1/4 has whole grains and the other 1/2 contains fruits and/or veggies.

Published on April 26, 2016.

Brittany Doohan is a health and lifestyle writer and editor living in San Francisco.