Dieters who want to limit what they eat could have an unlikely ally - big forks.
Diners who use them eat less than those with smaller forks, according to a study.
Researchers at the University of Utah in the US assessed the impact of bite sizes.
The two-day experiment was conducted in an Italian restaurant. Tables were set with either a bigger fork or a smaller one - holding 20 per cent more and 20 per cent less food than the restaurant's regular size.
Each plate of food was weighed before it went out to a customer and when it came back to calculate how much food was left over. Diners given bigger forks ate less, leaving more on their plates.
The authors of the study found that fork size helped diners see how far along they were toward finishing.
With smaller forks, they did not feel much progress was being made so they put greater effort into satisfying their hunger - by eating more.
Co-author Mr. Mishra said: "The fork size provided diners with a means to observe their goal progress. The physiological feedback of feeling full or the satiation signal comes with a time lag. "
The study was reported in the Journal of Consumer Research.


据英国《每日邮报》7月16日报道：看似并不可靠的大号刀叉或许会对那些想要限量进食的节食者们有所帮助。
一项研究表明，使用大刀叉吃饭的人要比使用小刀叉的人吃得少。
美国犹他尤他大学的研究者们测评了使用大号餐具对摄入食物量的影响。
这项为期两天的实验在一家意大利餐馆进行。餐桌上或摆放一个大叉子，或摆放一个小叉子，其中大叉子一次可比餐馆正常使用的叉子多夹20%的食物，小叉子少夹20%。

每盘食物在上桌前就已经称重，在用餐者进食完毕后，再对盘中所剩食物进行称量，结果表明，使用大号刀叉进食的用餐者吃的更少，碟中剩下的食物更多。

研究小组的成员称，大叉子有助于用餐者发觉自己都快把整盘食物享用完的事实。

但是用小叉子进食时，他们就意识不到自己已经吃了多少，所以就会吃得更多来填饱肚子。


研究成员米什拉博士说："叉子的大小给用餐者们提供了一个衡量进食进度的方法。生理饱胀感的反馈或饱食信号的发出都需要一定的时间。"

这项研究发表在《消费者调查》杂志上。

• italian [i´tæliən] a.意大利 n.意大利人 (初中英语单词)
• restaurant [´restərɔnt] n.饭店，菜馆 (初中英语单词)
• customer [´kʌstəmə] n.顾客，买主，主顾 (初中英语单词)
• hunger [´hʌŋgə] n.饥饿；渴望 (初中英语单词)
• journal [´dʒə:nəl] n.日记；日报；杂志 (初中英语单词)
• research [ri´sə:tʃ] n.&vi.调查；探究；研究 (初中英语单词)
• consumer [kən´sju:mə] n.消费者；用户 (高中英语单词)
• unlikely [ʌn´laikli] a.不像的；未必可能的 (英语六级单词)
• impact [´impækt] n.影响，作用；冲击 (英语六级单词)
• holding [´həuldiŋ] n.保持，固定，存储 (英语六级单词)