Home Courses Healthy ageing in 6 steps – Let your environment do the work Course materials Readings 4.3 The kitchen: reading & references

4.3 The kitchen: reading & references

Course subject(s) Module 4. Everyday environments

Prof. Brian Wansink from Cornell University in the United States studies the unconscious influences on our eating behaviour. In his books he describes his studies such as the influence of the size of plates, glasses, cutlery, and many other unconscious triggers. 

  • Brian Wansink. Mindless eating. Why we eat more than we think.2010.  
  • Brian Wansink. Slim by design. Mindless eating solutions for everyday life. 2014

Most studies on portion size are from the United States where it has been well documented how portion sizes have increased in the past decennia; not only in in fastfood stores, but also in restaurants and at home.

  •  Nielsen SJ, Popkin BM. Patterns and trends in food portion sizes, 1977–1998. JAMA 2003;289:450–3.

That this increase in portion size makes people eat more and contributes to obesity has also been extensively studied:

  •  Young LR, Nestle M. The contribution of expanding portion sizes to the US obesity epidemic. Am J Public Health 2002;92:246–9
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