The Study
Children's energy intake generally increases in response to the energy density of meals but varies with the amounts and types of foods served.
This study gave kids the same meals every day but changed how fatty or sugary the food was and how much was served. It found that when kids got more high-calorie food, they didn’t always eat more — because the high-calorie stuff was served in smaller amounts. So it shows food size and type affect how much kids eat, but not that their bodies 'sense calories' like a meter.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Kids eat more when food is lighter and bigger, but when food is super dense like crackers, they get less of it because adults give them smaller portions.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 576 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — portion size, not hunger signals, limits how much kids eat of high-calorie foods, meaning we can control intake by serving size, not just food type.
- 2Kids ate 25% more energy-dense foods at snacks than served.
- 3Each extra 100g of food served added 62 kcal to intake.
- 4Energy intake peaked at ~1.4 kcal/g and dropped after that.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
The American journal of clinical nutrition
Year
2023
Authors
B. J. Rolls, L. Roe, K. Keller
Related Content
Claims (5)
In preschool children, eating more energy-dense foods leads to higher calorie intake up to a point, but beyond that, children eat smaller portions, so they consume fewer calories. This happens because of how much food is served, not because their bodies sense calories.
In preschool children, serving more food leads to higher calorie intake, and the amount served matters more than how calorie-dense the food is; every extra 100 grams served results in about 62 more kilocalories consumed.
When preschool children are served foods with higher energy density, they receive smaller portions, which limits their total calorie intake and results in a non-linear relationship between food energy density and total calories consumed.
When preschool children are given a choice of foods, they eat snacks with more energy per gram than what is offered, consuming 25% more energy-dense foods than available, showing that their food choices are shaped by preference and availability, not just their body's energy needs.
In preschool children, the amount of food eaten is not controlled by a biological signal that detects how energy-dense a meal is; instead, it is determined by how much high-energy food is served in limited portions.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.