London - Using smaller plates won’t help us lose weight because we’ll go back for second helpings, say researchers.
Experts say the technique makes portion sizes look more substantial, helping us cut servings and spare 159 kilojoule-calories a day.
But a British academic says there is little evidence that it will help dieters. Dr Eric Robinson, a behavioural psychologist at the University of Liverpool, said: “The idea that giving people smaller plates will magically reduce how much they eat is an idea that may never die. But it should do.”
It thought that Britons are fatter now than in the 1950s because the average dinner plate size has got bigger.
A review by Cambridge academics in 2015 found that downsizing dishware could slash the calories consumed by a tenth. But in Robinson’s study, which gave 61 people popcorn as they watched TV those with a smaller dish ate a third more.