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About 75% of adolescents eat fast food at least once a week, and research suggests that the large portion sizes and rapid eating pace associated with fast food might bypass the body’s satiety cues. Investigators at Children’s Hospital Boston examined the effect of portion size and eating rate on energy intake in 18 adolescents (age range, 13–17; BMI >80th percentile).
Before consuming the baseline assessment meal (chicken nuggets, French fries, cola), adolescents were told that they could eat as much or as little of the food served as they liked and that refills were readily available. Participants were randomized to receive the same food during three subsequent sessions (with amounts based on 125% of their baseline consumption) either all a…