Could Smaller Plates Be The Cure For Childhood Obesity?

Eat less, exercise more. Seems like an easy enough concept, but it isn't working to cure the problem of childhood obesity yet. New research offered in the journal Pediatrics has a new idea, and it's simplicity might just work!

It's estimated that 1 in 3 children in the United States are obese. Parents and kids have been lectured to death about portion size, nutrition and exercise with little or no results, so researchers at Temple University had a new idea. For eight days first graders were allowed to serve themselves from a buffet featuring pasta, chicken nuggets, apple sauce and vegetables. Here's the trick, though. Plate sizes varied, and on days where the 7 year-olds used salad plates, they ate less. Researchers commented that parents don't always have the time to study and implement effective dietary guidelines, but using smaller plates at meal times is something that is easy to do.