ArticleNutrition journal2018
The effect of a portion size intervention on French fries consumption, plate waste, satiety and compensatory caloric intake: an on-campus restaurant experiment.
Article in Nutrition journal, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 65 citations in OpenAlex.
- Improving Cardiovascular Health through Nudging Healthier Food Choices: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2019Pooled it
- Naming Matters: Prompting Smaller Portions in an Online RCT.American journal of preventive medicine · 2023Trial
- Evaluation of physical activity calorie equivalent (PACE) labels' impact on energy purchased in cafeterias: A stepped-wedge randomised controlled trial.PLoS medicine · 2022Trial
- Impact of decreasing the proportion of higher energy foods and reducing portion sizes on food purchased in worksite cafeterias: A stepped-wedge randomised controlled trial.PLoS medicine · 2021Trial
- Reductions to main meal portion sizes reduce daily energy intake regardless of perceived normality of portion size: a 5 day cross-over laboratory experiment.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2020Trial
- Motives matter: A smartphone EMA study on the association between motives to exercise, exercise engagement and mood.British journal of health psychology · 2026Article
- Behavioral Interventions for Consumer Food Waste Reduction: A Multi-Level Governance Perspective.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Are weight control and food waste a trade-off?: A clustering of pre-meal portion planning and plate-clearing behaviors among Japanese adult consumers.European journal of nutrition · 2025Article
- Healthy Food Service Guidelines for Worksites and Institutions: A Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Impact on beer sales of removing the pint serving size: An A-B-A reversal trial in pubs, bars, and restaurants in England.PLoS medicine · 2024Article
- Impact on wine sales of removing the largest serving size by the glass: An A-B-A reversal trial in 21 pubs, bars, and restaurants in England.PLoS medicine · 2024Article
- Impact on sales of adding a smaller serving size of beer and cider in licensed premises: an A-B-A reversal design.BMC public health · 2023Article
- The Crick-Eatery: A Novel Approach to Evaluate Cricket (Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Restaurant managers' readiness to maintain people's healthy weight and minimise food waste in Japan.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Nature Ambience in a Lunch Restaurant Has the Potential to Evoke Positive Emotions, Reduce Stress, and Support Healthy Food Choices and Sustainable Behavior: A Field Experiment among Finnish Customers.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- The Economics of a "portion size reduction" policy.PloS one · 2022Article
- Toward a Healthy and Environmentally Sustainable Campus Food Environment: A Scoping Review of Postsecondary Food Interventions.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2021Article
- Food Choice and Waste in University Dining Commons-A Menus of Change University Research Collaborative Study.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Plate Waste Generated by Spanish Households and Out-of-Home Consumption: Results from the ANIBES Study.Nutrients · 2020Article
- Identifying Barriers to Reducing Portion Size: A Qualitative Focus Group Study of British Men and Women.Nutrients · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOne of the driving factors of dietary overconsumption throughout the last decennia is the increase of food portion sizes. Larger portions induce higher daily energy intake, so reducing portion size may reduce intake of excess calories. However, real-life studies about the effects of portion size reduction are lacking. Therefore, this study examined the effect of a French fries portion size reduction on French fries consumption, French fries plate waste, satiety and caloric intake during the subsequent afternoon among university students and employees in a Belgian on-campus restaurant setting. Moreover, this study evaluated consumers' perception about the portion size reduction.
methodsThe study took place over a two-time (i.e. baseline and intervention week) 4-day period (Tuesday-Friday) in the on-campus restaurant where ±1200 meals are served every day. French fries' portions were reduced by 20% by replacing the usual porcelain bowl served during the baseline week (±200 g) with smaller volume paper bags during the intervention week (±159 g) in a pre-post real-life experiment. French fries consumption and plate waste were measured in 2056 consumers at baseline and 2175 consumers at intervention. Additionally, interviews were conducted directly after lunch and again between 4 and 6 p.m. on the same day to assess satiety and caloric intake at pre and post in a small subsample of both French fries consumers (n = 19) and non-French fries consumers (n = 14). Post-intervention, the same subsample was interviewed about their perception of the portion size reduction (n = 28).
resultsTotal French fries intake decreased by 9.1%, and total plate waste decreased by 66.4%. No differences were found in satiety or caloric intake between baseline and intervention week among the French fries' consumers. The majority (n = 24, 86%) of French fries consumers noticed the reduction in portion size during the intervention. Although most participants (n = 19, 68%) perceived the reduced portion size as sufficient, only a minority of participants (n = 9, 32%) indicated post-intervention that they would agree with a permanent implementation.
conclusionsReducing portion size may lead to reduced caloric intake, without changing perceived levels of satiety.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.