Food-Evoked Emotions and Optimal Portion Sizes of Meat and Vegetables for Men and Women across Five Familiar Dutch Meals: An Online Study

Maria Isabel Salazar Cobo, Gerry Jager*, Cees de Graaf, Elizabeth H. Zandstra

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Portion size manipulation is well known to be effective in increasing vegetable intake in adults, whereas less is known about the effects of portion size manipulation on reducing meat intake. This online study investigated the effects of recommended and regularly consumed portion sizes of vegetables and meat in five familiar Dutch meals. Participants evaluated 60 food pictures of five meals and used a 100 mm VAS to measure expected liking, satiety, food-evoked emotions, and the perceived normal portion size. The results show that both regular and recommended portions scored above 55 on the 100 mm VAS on expected liking and satiety. Similarly, both portion sizes scored high (55–70 on the 100 mm VAS) in positive emotions (i.e., happy, relaxed, and satisfied). Regarding the perceived amount of meat, men consistently preferred larger portions of meat than women. However, the optimal portion sizes of vegetables were similar for men and women. Furthermore, the recommended portion sizes led to positive food-evoked emotions, implying that the effective implementation of portion size strategies for increasing vegetable and limiting meat intake requires a careful, holistic approach focusing on the sensory characteristics of food products as well as the emotions evoked by the total food experience.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1259
Number of pages16
JournalFoods
Volume12
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 16 Mar 2023

Keywords

  • expected liking
  • expected satiety
  • food-evoked emotions
  • meat
  • portion size
  • vegetables

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