food for thought

[mimitabby]

from the new york times: a great article about food consumption
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/11/di...&ex=1160712000

Seduced by Snacks? No, Not You


By KIM SEVERSON
Published: October 11, 2006

Ithaca, N.Y.

Weight Watcher Prof. Brian Wansink observes participants in an eating behavior study through a one-way window at a Cornell lab.

Bill Wingell for The New York Times

A study of mindless eating links big bowls to bigger portions.

PEOPLE almost always think they are too smart for Prof. Brian Wansink’s quirky experiments in the psychology of overindulgence.

When it comes to the slippery issues of snacking and portion control, no one thinks he or she is the schmo who digs deep into the snack bowl without thinking, or orders dessert just because a restaurant plays a certain kind of music.

“To a person, people will swear they aren’t influenced by the size of a package or how much variety there is on a buffet or the fancy name on a can of beans, but they are,” Dr. Wansink said. “Every time.”

He has the data to prove it. Dr. Wansink, who holds a doctorate in marketing from Stanford University and directs the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab, probably knows more about why we put things in our mouths than anybody else. His experiments examine the cues that make us eat the way we do. The size of an ice cream scoop, the way something is packaged and whom we sit next to all influence how much we eat. His research doesn’t pave a clear path out of the obesity epidemic, but it does show the significant effect one’s eating environment has on slow and steady weight gain.

In an eight-seat lab designed to look like a cozy kitchen, Dr. Wansink offers free lunches in exchange for hard data. He opened the lab at Cornell in April, after he moved it from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he spent eight years conducting experiments in cafeterias, grocery stores and movie theaters. Dr. Wansink presents his work to dieticians, food executives and medical professionals. They use it to get people to eat differently.

His research on how package size accelerates consumpti

[han-grrl]

i had also come across an older study that demonstrated how women were more likely to snack after being exposed to loud noises that they could not control...

[mimitabby]

my favorite part of the article talked about how when a bowl of soup was secretly being filled from the bottom, people ate twice as much before stopping!

[chickwhorips]

i thought it was a neat idea on the bowl thing. he put a lot of time into doing that.

very interesting.... i read it after eating lunch, now feeling a wee bit guilty.

[Bikingmomof3]

His job sounds fun. He is quite creative, especially the bottomless soup bowl.