Eat like mom told you to lose weight

Except for that “clean your plate”, part, maybe.

Slow down, put your napkin in your lap, face away from the food bar and chew slowly.

Thin people eat differently at all-you-can-eat buffets
Thin people eat differently at all-you-can-eat buffets

By Susan Lang, General Science / Other

PhysOrg.com — When it comes to chowing down at all-you-can-eat Chinese buffets, thinner people do it differently, finds a new Cornell study. They tend to browse and chew more, use chopsticks and smaller plates, face away from the food and place a napkin in their laps.
Heavier patrons, on the other hand, are speed eaters ; they start serving themselves on large plates without scouting the spread, face the food, use forks and keep the napkin on the table, according to the research.

The study of 213 diners observed at 11 Chinese buffet restaurants across the United States is published in the August issue of the academic journal Obesity by Brian Wansink, Cornell s John S. Dyson Professor of Marketing, and Collin Payne, a Cornell postdoctoral researcher.

Folk wisdom has suggested various ways to control portions and overeating, but this is one of the first studies to actually examine and find a correlation between behavior and body weight, said Wansink, who is on leave until January 2009 to take a 14-month appointment as executive director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. The results are pretty striking.

The study employed 22 trained observers to code behaviors of patrons and estimate age, height and weight, putting them either into a low, middle or high body mass index BMI category.

They observed, for example, that persons with a lower BMI left more food on their plates and chewed about 15 vs. 12 times per bite.

Increased chewing per bite of food has been shown to be related to lower BMIs partly because of the influence of chewing on satiety, said Wansink, author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think.

The behavior of heavier eaters, Wansink said, also suggests they are rushing — they chew less, use forks, keep the napkin where it s handiest.

The faster you eat, the more you miss the signals of being full, said Wansink. Speed eating seems to be more prevalent in heavier people.

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One Response

  1. Never eat at a buffet.

    Bad food, either too hot or cold, under-flavored lest someone find it too-flavored. Soggy masses of inidentifiable organic substances and fluids.

    Never eat at a buffet.
    You can do better than that.
    Do not touch that plastic tray.
    Your body needs better than that.

    Stay away from steam tables
    and those pots with sterno flames
    Find some better eat ables
    Of which you know the names.

    If it isn’t fresh-prepared
    don’t put it in your mouth
    Your system should be spared
    From vittles so un-couth.

    You’re better off at Micky D
    Or even Wendy’s shack
    Or eating goober peas
    For your little snack

    Don’t go to the Buffet
    If you want a better life
    Don’t go to the Buffet
    Keep your innards safe from strife.

    No Buffet! No Buffet! No Buffet!

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