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The development and evaluation of a portion plate for youth: a pilot study
Amy M Bohnert1, Edin T Randall, Stephanie Tharp
1Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL 60626, USA. abohner@luc.edu
Objective:
To develop and evaluate a portion plate for adolescents (Nutri-plate).
Methods:
Sixteen African American adolescents (mean age = 12.94 years; 66% male) were randomized to participate in either plate design or nutrition education sessions. Adolescents' input was used to create the Nutri-plate, and participants' food selection and intake was evaluated.
Results:
Adolescents indicated the plate should include simple yet colorful visual and textual information about healthful eating. Participants left less food on their plate when dining with the Nutri-plate as compared with a plain plate (P < .01). Examination of effect sizes suggested that when using the Nutri-plate, participants selected less food overall (d = 0.73), more fruit (d = -0.64), more broccoli au gratin (d = -0.85), and less steamed broccoli (d = 0.87). Participants with higher body mass index selected a greater amount of healthful food when using the Nutri-plate (P < .05).
Conclusions And Implications:
Further evaluation is needed to determine the influence of a portion plate on adolescents' nutritional behaviors.
