title: External influences on children's self-served portions at meals.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Large portions promote intake among children, but little is known about the external influences of the eating environment on children's self-selected portion sizes. This research experimentally tested effects of the amount of entree available and serving spoon size on children's self-served entree portions and intakes at dinner meals. A secondary objective was to identify child and family predictors of self-served entree portion sizes.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 2 × 2 within-subjects design was used, in which the amount of a pasta entree available for self-serving (275 vs 550 g) and the serving spoon size (teaspoon vs tablespoon) were systematically varied. The serving bowl size and portion sizes of all other foods offered were held constant across conditions. Conditions were spaced 1 week apart and randomly assigned. Weighed self-served entree portions and food intakes as well as demographics, maternal feeding styles and child/maternal anthropometrics were measured.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were 60 ethnically diverse children aged 4-6 years and their mothers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mixed models revealed that children served themselves 40% more entree when the amount available was doubled (P<0.0001) and 13% more when the serving spoon size was tripled (P<0.05). Serving spoon size and the amount of entree available indirectly influenced children's intake, with larger self-served portion sizes related to greater entree intakes (P<0.0001). Greater self-served portions and energy intakes at the meal were seen among those children whose mothers reported indulgent or authoritarian feeding styles (P<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Children's self-served portion sizes at meals are influenced by size-related facets of the eating environment and reflect maternal feeding styles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Center for Obesity Research and Education, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA. jofisher@temple.edu
authors.forename: J O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Birch
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Grusak
authors.forename: S O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Hughes
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001066:Appetite / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena / Q000502:physiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003297:Cooking and Eating Utensils; D002149:Energy Intake; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers; D015143:Philadelphia / Q000453:epidemiology; D064787:Portion Size