Plate Clearing and Body Mass Index: A Meta‐Analysis
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Background
Current food environments are characterized by larger food portions, which contribute to higher food consumption. Thus, habitually finishing meals by eating the entire portion (so‐called plate clearing or plate cleaning) may lead to weight gain. However, findings have been mixed: some studies reported small, positive associations between self‐reported plate clearing tendencies and body mass index, but other studies did not find a relationship or even reported a negative association.
Methods
The current study performed a meta‐analysis on the correlation between plate clearing tendencies and body mass index.
Results
The pooled effect based on 22 samples was r = 0.04 (95% CI [−0.02, 0.10]), indicating no relationship between plate clearing and body mass index. A meta‐regression indicated that the percentage of women as well as the type of self‐report measure moderated the effect, suggesting that there might be a small, positive relationship between plate clearing and body mass index in men and when the Plate Clearing Tendency Scale was used.
Conclusion
This meta‐analysis does not indicate that habitual plate clearing relates to a higher body weight in general. While self‐report biases cannot be excluded based on the current study, the absence of an observed association highlights the need for further exploration into why this relationship is not evident.
