新奇事件簿 想减肥盛小盘（在线收听）

New research suggests there is a simple and easy way that helps people to stop over-eating. Researchers say there is an alternative to fancy diets. They say that using smaller plates, knives, forks, glasses and other tableware could reduce the amount of food we eat. Many of us tend to use the size of the plate as a measure of how much we can eat. If we use a large plate, we fill the plate with food, which often means we eat too much. Research from Cambridge University in the U.K. suggests that smaller plates could lower the amount of food we eat. British people could reduce their calorie intake by up to 16 per cent, while Americans could see a reduction of up to 29 per cent in calories.

新研究表明人们发现了一种能够帮助食客防止过度进食的简便方法。研究人员称，我们还可以通过另一种方法来食用美味佳肴。他们称使用小盘子、刀叉、杯子或是其他小型餐具都能够帮助人们减少食物摄入量。许多人往往通过盘子的大小来衡量我们食用的多少。如果我们使用大盘子，我们就会将盘子盛满食物，这样通常会导致我们食用过多食物。来自英国剑桥大学的一项研究称，小盘子能够减少食物摄取量。英国民众的卡路里摄取量将减少16%，美国可以减少29%。

The research team looked at data from 6,711 people who took part in the eating trials. Dr Gareth Hollands, one of the leaders of the research, said that many people think it is, "obvious that the larger the portion size, the more people eat," but said that until now, there was little research on this. He added that it was wrong to think people ate too much because of a lack of self-control. He said: "Helping people to avoid 'over-serving' themselves or others with larger portions of food or drink by reducing their size, availability and appeal in shops, restaurants and in the home, is likely to be a good way of helping lots of people to reduce their risk of overeating."

研究小组对6711名研究对象的实验数据进行了研究。研究小组组长加雷思·霍兰博士称，许多人都认为盘子越大，吃得越多，这很明显，然而到目前为止，我们在这一方面的研究少之又少。他还称人们总是认为人们食用过量是因为缺少自制力，这完全是错误的。他称：“避免过分摄入，或是通过缩减器皿大小，抗拒商店、餐馆或是自家食物的诱惑，那么这些也可以帮助人们减少过度进食的风险。”