Childhood is over, but my mother’s unforgettable words “Eat up, otherwise they are starving in Africa!” continue to have a fatal influence on our destinies. The International Journal of Obesity published a study confirming that adult men and women in the vast majority of cases eat everything that is on their plates, even if the portion is obviously large and the feeling of fullness has already come in the process of eating.
Overeating and obesity
Grandmothers and mothers dream that their children grow up big and healthy – and therefore they can even punish the little one who always leaves pieces on the plate. However, in adulthood, the acquired habit of eating every last crumb harms rather than helps.
As scientists from leading American institutions who collaborated on the study found, the most risky situations are when we ourselves determine the size of our portion: at home, in self-service cafeterias, and in buffet restaurants. In these cases, both men and women eat 92% of their plates. This figure drops slightly – by an average of 3% – if we are distracted during lunch or dinner, but in general, the trend can be called frightening in its universality – we are all obsessed with “eating well” and because of this we overeat.
Despite the fact that the project was implemented by scientists from the United States, data was collected not only in America, but also in Canada, France, Taiwan, South Korea, Finland and Holland, and everywhere the results were almost identical. Because of haste, frugality, or simply out of habit, the inhabitants of various countries tend to eat everything that they managed to get.
Study leader Brian Wansink, a renowned food habits expert and head of the Cornish Food Laboratory, said: “Whatever you put on your plate, no matter how big it is, it’s bound to end up in your stomach.”

Curiously, children who are most likely to hear the strong recommendation not to leave a crumb on their plate are the least willing to listen to it: boys and girls tend to eat no more than 60% of the portion. Unfortunately, as they grow older, the situation changes and mother’s not at all useful instructions begin to act.

Ironically, those of us who choose a healthier diet (vegetables, fruits, whole grains) products, lean meat), tend to eat their portion almost entirely, while those who prefer fatty, heavy foods and fast food often leave about 20% of the original serving on the plate. However, of course, in this case, you should not forget about the calorie density indicator: a full plate of fresh salad is different from a full plate of french fries.
The researchers aimed to fill a gap in knowledge about how much and how we eat, when we independently determine the allowed amount of food for ourselves and can increase it at our choice.
Scientists intend to continue to find out what makes people eat more or less, and to identify a clearer link between overeating and obesity. For example, when analyzing portion sizes, it turned out that skipping any of the usual meals during the day automatically entails an increase in the portion and calorie content of the next meal. Thus, a person, as it were, psychologically compensates for the “lost” nutrition – however, physically, such an addition does not benefit him at all.
“You will eat whatever fits on your plate. Just think about it, and maybe it will help you be more thoughtful about serving size and composition when you determine them yourself,” Bryan Wansink sums up the most obvious and practically useful conclusion from the study data.
Perhaps you should refrain from educational measures if your child has not finished the cutlet again? He is still able to eat as much as he really wants, and not as much as he has – and you should not forcefully hand him a membership card of the Clean Plate Society.