Using plate mapping to examine sensitivity to plate size in food portions and meal composition among college students

Abstract

People eat meals rather than nutrients or food groups. Plate size may influence meal size, meal composition, and food type. To examine effects of plate size on meals, we developed a method we label plate mapping. A quasi-experimental study asked university students to accurately draw what they would like to eat for dinner on either a 9″ or 11″ paper plate. Coding plate drawings for total meal size revealed that students drew an average of 26% more food on larger plates. When plates were coded for meal composition we found that the biggest three food portions drawn by students were bigger on 11″ plates, with 70% of the overall difference in food area occurring in the biggest food. Participants drew bigger portions of vegetables on larger plates, while other food types showed little change in mean size. Gender moderated plate sensitivity for food types: women drew 36% bigger vegetable portions than men on larger plates. Smaller plates may lead to smaller meal sizes, but plate size may differentially influence composition of meals for men and women. These findings suggest plate mapping can be used to reflect meal conceptualizations and assess sensitivity to plate size.

Using plate mapping to examine portion size and plate composition for large and small divided plates

“…Plate mapping asks participants to accurately draw and label the foods in a meal on a paper plate (Sharp & Sobal, 2012) to represent their cognitive schema of a platescape (Sobal & Wansink, 2007). Plate maps project cultural scripts for appropriate meal portions and sizes of food into plate drawings.…”

“…Plate maps project cultural scripts for appropriate meal portions and sizes of food into plate drawings. Plate mapping has been previously used among college students (Sharp & Sobal, 2012) to examine plate sensitivity and plate composition.…”

“…Research about plate size for non-divided plates shows that people draw bigger portions of specific foods and bigger overall meal sizes on larger plates (Sharp & Sobal, 2012). Laboratory studies, however, report mixed plate size effects on food serving and consumption (DeSantis et al, 2013; Koh & Pliner, 2009; Rolls et al; Shah et al; Yip et al)…”

“…Research about non-divided plate size has shown that people draw bigger main courses and vegetable portions on larger plates (Sharp & Sobal, 2012). …”

“…Overall, larger plates and other food containers encourage people to serve and eat more food (Wansink, 2006) and different types of foods (Sharp and Sobal, 2012). Previous studies of plate size have largely been conducted in laboratory settings (DiSantis et al, 2013; Koh & Pliner, 2009; Rolls, Roe, Halverson, & Meengs, 2007; Shah, Schroeder, Winn, & Adams-Huet, 2011; Yip, Wiessing, Budgett, & Poppitt, 2013), but such direct observational methods are time consuming, expensive, and involve high response burden for participants.…”