Differences in Portion Sizes in Brazil, France, and the USA

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Behavioral Science
• Public Health

Background:

• Portion size significantly influences food intake and may contribute to overconsumption and obesity.
• Understanding variations in portion size across cultures is crucial for public health initiatives.
• Previous research suggests portion size differences exist, but cross-cultural visual comparisons are limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a visual tool for measuring portion size (PS).
• To compare personal and perceived country-specific PS for chicken, ice cream, and soda across Brazil, France, and the USA.
• To investigate the relationship between PS and demographic factors like gender, BMI, body weight, and socioeconomic status (SES).

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional online study was conducted with 1391 university students.
• Participants provided personal PS estimates and perceived country-level PS for selected food items.
• Statistical analyses examined differences in PS based on country, gender, BMI, weight, and SES.

Main Results:

• French personal and country PSs were significantly smaller compared to other countries studied.
• Perceived country PS was consistently larger than personal PS across all participants.
• Women reported smaller personal PS than men, but country PS perceptions were similar between genders.
• Socioeconomic status showed a weak correlation with some PS measures, but no significant relationship with BMI or body weight was found.

Conclusions:

• Significant cultural differences in personal portion sizes exist between France and the USA, aligning with perceived social norms.
• Visual portion size measurement tools can effectively capture cross-cultural variations in food intake.
• Further research is needed to explore the long-term health implications of these portion size differences.