Table 3.
Studies reporting changes in portion size awareness and learning.
| Authors, Country | Study Design | Tool | Population | Main Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Almiron-Roig et al. 2016 [77]; 2019 [78] UK |
Randomized crossover trial including a qualitative sub-study 4 weeks (2 weeks with each tool) |
Set of calibrated crockery (plate, bowl, glass) Set of plastic serving spoons (CHO, PRO, FV) |
Adults with overweight and obesity (n = 29) | Both sets of tools were well accepted and perceived to be effective, especially to increase PS of vegetables and reduce PS of CHO. Both tools considered to be practical to help learn appropriate PS |
| Brown et al. 2019 [57] Australia |
Baseline Survey (1 day) Parallel intervention (4 weeks) |
ServARpreg app (mobile phone-based nutrition educational tool to assess knowledge of carbohydrates and standard serving sizes of pregnant women) vs. control group (did not use the app) | Pregnant women n = 186 Survey n = 97 Intervention (of which n = 36 App; n = 61 Control) |
ServARpreg app improved CHO quantification knowledge (36 food items) but did not improve standard portion size knowledge (11 food items and recipes) |
| Kroeze et al. 2018 [64] Netherlands |
Observational Study 9 months |
Web based PortionSize@warenessTool (educational on-line program consisting on a digital dish-up for knowledge and awareness of portion size) as part of a combined educational intervention consisting of two phases (3 and 9 months, details in Supplementary Table S1) (SMARTsize) | Adults with overweight and obesity (n = 225) | Intervention improved self-reported strategies to control portion size after 3 months (i.e., prepare low-calorie dishes, intention to consume smaller portions and the use of portion control strategies). Individual counseling had no impact on hypothesized outcomes |
| Poelman et al. 2013 [65] Netherlands |
Randomized controlled trial including online questionnaire, assessed at baseline and 1 week after |
Web based PortionSize@warenessTool (educational on-line program consisting on a digital dish-up for portion-size knowledge and awareness) as part of a combined educational intervention (PortionControl@HOME) | Adults with overweight and obesity n = 167 Intervention n = 143 Control |
Intervention enhanced the awareness of reference PS and of overeating triggers for larger portions |
| Poelman et al. 2015 [66] Netherlands |
Parallel randomized controlled trial 12 months |
Web based PortionSize@warenessTool (educational on-line program consisting on a digital dish-up for portion-size knowledge and awareness) as part of a combined educational intervention (PortionControl@HOME) | Adults with overweight and obesity (n = 278) | Intervention led to improvements on portion size awareness at 3, 6 and 12 months that induced a small reduction in BMI at 3 months of intervention. These differences were not maintained at 6 and 12 months |
| Riley et al. 2007 [67] USA |
Parallel randomized controlled trial (12 months) Crossover trial (1 day) |
CFPT —Computerized Food Portion Tutorial (Computer-based program providing multimedia training and feedback regarding food portions of common food items) | Adults with overweight and obesity (n = 76) | CFPT program modulated and improved the variation/error between the estimated and weighed portions however it failed to improve accuracy in the estimation |
| Rolls et al. 2017 [12] USA |
Three-arm randomized controlled trial 12 months |
1st arm: Tool set and educational guidelines (Digital food scale; measuring cups and spoons; placemat illustrating appropriate proportions of meal components; Portion size card with common objects) as part of the Portion-Control Strategies Trial. 2nd arm: Preportioned food group 3rd arm: Standard advice (control) |
Adults with overweight and obesity (n = 186; n = 62 per arm) |
The tool set and guidelines helped reduce energy density of the diet however there were no significant differences in body weight compared with the Standard advice (control group) or the pre-portioned group (alternative intervention which was the most effective at 3 months). |
Abbreviations: CHO, carbohydrate; FV, fruit and vegetables; PRO, protein; PS portion size. The term calibrated is used to describe a portion control utensil with either printed indicators or segments separated with raised edges (3D). For full details please see Supplementary Table S1.