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. 2021 Jun 9;13(6):1978. doi: 10.3390/nu13061978

Table 6.

Results of studies reporting changes in body weight (change in kg or BMI).

Authors, Country Study Design Tool Population Main Results
Ahn et al. 2010 [53]
Korea		 Randomized crossover trial
3 months (at home)

  • Regular Bowl (380 mL)

  • Small Bowl (200 mL)

 Adult women with type 2 diabetes (with and without overweight/obesity)
(n = 42)		 Both groups reported significant reduction on body weight after 12 weeks. No significant differences were found among groups
Ho et al. 2016 [51]
Canada		 Parallel randomized controlled trial
6 months (families)

  • Calibrated tableware (The Diet Plate-plate and bowl) + nutritional counseling (FOCUS intervention)

  • Control: only counseling

 8–16 y old children with overweight
n = 51 Intervention
n = 48 Control		 Both groups reported weight loss at 6 months, but no effect of tableware was found on BMI z-score
Huber et al. 2015 [74]
USA		 Parallel randomized controlled trial
6 months
(Mayo Clinic)

  • Calibrated tableware (transparent glass with guidelines and text) and tele-coaching

  • Usual care

 Adults with obesity
n = 45 Intervention
n = 45 Control		 The combined use of tele-coaching and calibrated tableware reduced women’s body weight and BMI at 3 months. The effect did not persist at 6 months.
Only a reduction in the hip-waist ratio was detected in men at 3 months
Jayawardena
et al. 2019 [58]
Sri Lanka		 Parallel Randomized controlled trial
3 months

  • Calibrated plate (printed indicators) (10.5”) divided into 5 segments (rice, PRO,3 types of vegetables)

  • Standard Care (no plate)

 Adults with acute coronary syndrome
n = 40 Intervention
n = 39 Control		 Calibrated plate reduced BMI at 3 months of intervention compared with the control condition, especially in patients with overweight and obesity
Kesman
et al. 2011 [76]
USA		 Parallel randomized controlled trial
6 months
(Mayo Clinic)

  • Calibrated tableware (transparent glass with guidelines text) and dietary counseling

  • Usual care

 Adults with obesity
n = 33 Intervention
n = 32 Control		 Intervention including calibrated tableware induced greater post-treatment weight loss at 3 months, compared with conventional treatment. Effects did not persist at 6 months
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 poerion size knowledge and awareness) as part of a combined educational intervention consisting of two phases (3 and 9 months [n=66, 3 months; n=159, 9 months; see Table S1 (SMARTsize)] Adults with overweight and obesity (n = 225) Intervention improved self-reported strategies to control food portion size after 3 months resulting in 6.6% weight loss.
Individual counseling had no impact on outcomes
Pedersen et al. 2007 [59]
Canada		 Parallel randomized controlled trial
6 months (Private clinic)

  • Calibrated tableware (plate and bowl) with demarcations and illustrations (The Diet Plate); dietary assessment and book.

  • Usual care

 Adults with obesity and type 2 diabetes
n = 65 Intervention
n = 65 Control		 Calibrated tableware improved cholesterol and blood pressure levels, reduced the use of hypoglycemic medication and facilitated weight loss (5% of body weight or more—significant only in patients using insulin)
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 = 139 Intervention
n = 139 Control		 The intervention showed 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
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;
62 per arm)		 Using the tool set and the educational guides did not impact on weight status more than receiving advice (control group) or pre-portioned foods (most effective intervention at 3 months). However, all three interventions helped decrease dietary energy density and cardio-metabolic risk factors.

The term calibrated is used to describe a portion control utensil with either printed indicators or segments separated with raised edges (3D).