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parents believe that children will eat as much as they need to
eat. But a new study published in the journal Appetite
found that the most important factor in the amount of food children
eat is how much is put in front of them. Apparently, what’s
true of adults is also true of kids: the more they see, the more
they eat.
In their study of preschool children, researchers tracked the
kids’ food intake in terms of calories and protein, fat
and carbohydrate content, but they found no correlations (or very
small ones) between content and quantity. The only factor that
predicted how much children would eat was how much food was placed
on their plates.
Psychologist David A. Levitsky suggests that parents can help
reduce childhood obesity by offering smaller portions. One approach
is to put food in bowls in the center of table and let kids take
their own. Or parents might serve smaller portions and wait until
a child asks for more. (See Parenting)
In related research by Dr. Brian Wansick:
 People
who ate from tins where every 7th potato chip was marked ate an
average of 10 chips. When every 14th chip was marked, they ate
15. With no chips marked, they ate 23.
When
the peas at a buffet for children were relabeled “power
peas,” the number of kids who ate them doubled. 
—Adapted from the New York Times
Cut to the chase…for a healthy
diet (click)
Can drinking wine make you live longer?
(click)
Kids will eat what’s put in front
of them (click)
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