Forty graduate students attending a Super Bowl party were escorted in alternating order to one of two identical buffet tables on opposite sides of an adjoining room and were offered snacks before the game. The tables contained identical amounts of high-energy snacks, but the size of the bowls in which the snacks were offered differed between the tables: two large (4-L capacity) bowls versus four small (2-L capacity) bowls. Compared with participants serving themselves from small bowls, those serving from large bowls took 53% (146 calories) more and consumed 56% (142 calories) more calories (p = 0.02 and 0.01, respectively).

Comment: The results of this study demonstrate that small environmental cues, such as the size of a serving bowl, can influence the amount of food a person consumes. Previous studies have shown that children tend to overeat when they are served a large amount of food on a plate, whereas they consume less when the plate contains less food. Other research has found that the size of a salt shaker hole has a significant influence on the amount of salt a person puts on his or her food. According to the results of the present study, people might become healthier if the potato chips were served in a thimble and the fruits and vegetables in a boxcar.

Wansink B, Cheney MM. Super Bowls: serving bowl size and food consumption. JAMA 2005;293:1727-1728.