Table 3 Opportunities for interventions aimed at portion size
Type of intervention | Suggested intervention | First author, year (reference) |
|---|---|---|
Individual [Purple] | Increase awareness among consumers - explain that the amount eaten is important, not only what is eaten - explain the relationship between portion size, calories and obesity - explain the relation between product packaging, media and eating habits | e.g. Nielsen, 2003 [7]; Young, 2007 [10]; Mathiessen, 2003 [11]; Rolls, 2003 [53]; Burger, 2007 [32]; Schwartz, 2006 [28] |
| Â | Education about serving sizes and portion sizes | Hogbin, 1999 [31] |
| Â | Educate people to eat satisfying portions of low energy dense foods instead of restricting all portions | Ello-Martin, 2005 [54] |
| Â | Educate people on strategies regarding controlling portion size in a restaurant setting, for example - ordering reduced-size portions - saving part of entree for another meal - sharing | Ledikwe, 2005 [4] |
| Â | Educate people on strategies regarding controlling portion size at home: - repackage foods into smaller units - plate smaller dinner portions in advance - transfer food to a plate or bowl instead of eating from the package - reduce the visibility of stockpiled foods - reduce the convenience of stockpiled food (f.e. by freezing them) - use tall, narrow glasses - use smaller bowls and plates - use smaller spoons when serving oneself or when eating from a bowl | Wansink, 2004 [36] |
Environmental | Â | Â |
Physical environment [Blue] | Decrease portion sizes served in restaurants and of packaged food in grocery stores incrementally, without knowledge of consumers | |
| Â | Serve larger portions of healthy, low energy-dense foods | Wansink, 2005 [24] |
| Â | Reduce energy density of food products/meals, keeping satisfying portion size | |
| Â | Provide a wider range of portion sizes | Ello-Martin, 2005 [54]; Ledikwe, 2005 [4]; Osterholt, 2006 [56]; Rolls, 2003 [53] |
| Â | Use commercially packaged meals that are controlled for portion size and energy density | Ello-Martin, 2005 [54] |
| Â | Food labels with useful and clear information about portion size | |
| Â | Point-of purchase information about portion size (restaurants) | |
Economic environment [Yellow] | Attractive pricing strategies to promote smaller portions - same value for money for small and large portions - discount on reasonable sized portions | Ello-Martin, 2005 [54]; French, 2005 [25]; Ledikwe, 2005 [4] |
| Â | Incentives for industry to reduce portion sizes | Rolls, 2003 [53] |
Political environment [Green] | Portion size requirements on all foods in a la carte lines at schools | Hartstein, 2008 [58] |
| Â | More consistent and realistic serving size standards that are achievable | Young, 1995 [57] |
Socio-cultural environment [Red] | Improve nutrition knowledge of chefs' of restaurants, about calories, portion size, energy density | Condrasky, 2007 [33] |