Eating right is a mind game

The size of dinnerware and silverware should matter to the brides of today when picking out place settings for their future families.

Smaller bowls and serving spoons — and probably smaller dinner plates, like you see in antiques shops — may help prevent overeating and slow down the obesity epidemic, according to a Cornell University study.

Doubling the size of bowls offered at an ice-cream social increased the amount of ice cream people served themselves by 31 percent, says Brian Wansink, a Cornell psychologist and professor of marketing.

Wansink, who says people are led into patterns of overeating by marketing, social, cultural and lifestyle influences, has a new book, "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think" (Bantam Books, $25), that examines the effects of music, lighting, big packages, the variety of foods available at any one meal, dining companions, clever marketing and other things that influence how much, how fast and how healthfully we eat. He says a series of small changes in the eating environment can make a big difference in whether people overeat or not.

Here are some of Wansink's suggestions on how to trim 100 to 200 calories a day:

Information

More on why we overeat: www.foodpsychology.org

Don't judge a wine by its label. When restaurant patrons were offered a free glass of cabernet sauvignon, those told it was a California wine gave it higher ratings, spent longer eating (65 vs. 55 minutes) and ate more, an average of 45 more calories, than those told the same wine was from North Dakota. Both groups got the same cheap bottle of cabernet but with different labels. "If we think we are going to like a food or drink, it has a halo effect on the other foods we eat," says Wansink.

Beware "see food" traps. Secretaries ate eight Hershey's Kisses a day when they had an open candy bowl on their desks but only about three a day when the bowl was 6 ½ feet away and not visible. The extra distance, Wansink says, "gave them the chance to pause and ask themselves if they really needed that extra chocolate"

Avoid other activities while eating. When Wansink gave moviegoers free five-day-old popcorn, they ate an average of 173 calories more from a big bucket than a medium one. Complaining the popcorn tasted horrible, they continued to eat while watching the movie, he says. "We tend to mindlessly eat while we're doing other activities," he says.

Use tall, skinny glasses. Wansink had bartenders estimate the amount of alcohol needed to make mixed drinks without using a shot glass. The pros poured more alcohol in short glasses than in taller ones. Researchers also found kids at a weight-loss camp both poured and drank more from short, wide glasses than from tall skinny ones. "If you want to be slender, use slender glasses," he says.

Wansink says that he, too, can scarf down a plate of fries before he really thinks about it. But he's learned to use some tricks to try to keep his munching under control. When he goes to parties, he stands near the vegetable tray. "I see vegetables as a get-out-of-jail-free card. I can keep eating them and eating them."

He won't let himself eat salty or sweet snacks unless he has had a piece of fruit first, which "gives me time to really think about whether I want to go get a candy bar."

Don't get him wrong. He loves to eat. But, he adds, you can change your life so that eating "is both enjoyable and mindful."

Information from USA Today and McClatchy Newspapers was used for this report.