Small Packages May Lead to Overeating

Tempting treats are being offered in small package sizes these days, presumably to help consumers reduce portion sizes. Yet new research in the Journal of Consumer Research found that people actually consume more high-calorie snacks when they are in small packages than large ones. And smaller packages make people more likely to give in to temptation in the first place.

Authors Rita Coelho do Vale (Technical University of Lisbon), Rik Pieters, and Marcel Zeelenberg (both Tilburg University, the Netherlands) found that large packages triggered concern of overeating and conscious efforts to avoid doing so, while small packages were perceived as innocent pleasures, leaving the consumers unaware that they were overindulging.

"The increasing availability of single-serve and multi-packs may not serve consumers in the long-run, but—because they are considered to be innocent pleasures—may turn out to be sneaky small sins," write the authors.

One fascinating aspect of the research is the difference between belief and reality. In an initial study, researchers found that consumers believe that small packages help them regulate "hedonistic consumption," where self-restraint is at stake. When participants were asked to choose phone plans, those who thought the plan was for social rather than work purposes tended to choose smaller plans.

The researchers then moved on to food. Participants in one group had their "dietary concerns" activated by completing a "Body Satisfaction scale," a "Drive for Thinness scale," and a "Concern for Dieting scale." They were then weighed and measured, in front of a mirror, to fully activate their awareness. Then those participants (and a control group, which didn't have its "dietary concerns" activated) watched episodes of Friends interspersed with commercials. They believed they were there to evaluate the ads. But researchers were really monitoring their consumption of potato chips. Chips were available to participants in large packages or small ones. The study found that consumption was lowest when dieting concerns were activated and package size was large. People were less likely to open large packages, and participants deliberated longer before consuming from the larger packages.

"Maybe the answer lies in consumers taking responsibility for their consumption and monitoring internal cues of sufficiency, rather than letting package size take control," conclude the authors.

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Study May Lead to New Therapies for Binge Eating Disorder

University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) psychologists have developed an animal model for the binge eating disorder, which affects an estimated one in 20 Americans. The Sprague-Dawley rat model could lead to the identification of physiological mechanisms that distinguish different types of eating disorders and to the creation of new, targeted drug therapies.

In the study, published in the April issue of the International Journal of Obesity, UAB psychologists identified rats who are predisposed to binge on large quantities of palatable food – sugary and high-fat junk foods – in a short period of time. Eating a large amount of palatable food in one sitting, however, did not predict susceptibility to become obese, just as some human binge eaters become obese while others remain lean.

With the animal model, UAB psychologists want to determine the genetic and neurochemical differences that characterize lean from obese binge eaters and obese individuals who don’t binge. This should ultimately lead to more targeted preventative measures and treatment strategies for people with binge-eating disorders and obesity, said the study’s author UAB psychologist Mary Boggiano.

Although binge eating disorder is the most common of all eating disorders, affecting 5 percent of the U.S. population, it does not have a formal mental health diagnosis due to a lack of research. Obesity and binge-eating disorders such as bulimia and binge-purge anorexia affect 40 percent of the population. But often patients are given the same set of treatments regardless of the condition or disorder.

Boggiano assigned rats as "binge prone" or "binge resistant" based on the amount of palatable food, (Oreo cookies), they consistently ate when given a choice between the cookies and regular chow. When only chow was offered, none differed in their intake of chow, but when cookies were presented, the rats ate more cookies. The binge-prone groups’ penchant for junk food may be driven by taste rather than by a preference for any one macronutrient, such as carbohydrates or fats, since they also ate more Froot Loops and Crisco, which do not contain any fat or carbohydrate, respectively.

To the psychologists’ surprise, the amount of junk food the rats ate, whether binge prone or binge resistant, was not predictive of whether the rats became obese. In fact, obesity and obesity resistance was equally represented in both the binge prone and binge resistant groups.
The finding is consistent with humans in that not everyone who frequently craves or eats junk food is obese. The lean binge-prone group resembles bulimia nervosa patients who generally do not gain weight, while the binge-prone obese group parallels patients who binge and gain weight, typical of binge-eating disorder. The binge-resistant obese group mirrors two-thirds of the obese population who consume a high number of calories but do not binge.

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