Research paper
Rolls BJ, Roe LS, Kral TVE, Meengs JS, Wall DE. Increasing the portion size of a packaged snack increases energy intake in men and women. Appetite. 2004;42(1):63-69. doi:10.1016/S0195-6663(03)00117-X
Why we cite it
From Rolls’ portion-size research group, this study provides controlled experimental evidence that larger snack packages led to greater caloric intake in both men and women, and that combined snack-and-dinner intake rose with package size. The authors state the finding as ”short-term energy intake increases with increasing package size of a snack” and the implication as one the data suggest. (Corrected 2026-09-19: the excess is not compensated for at dinner and an independent environmental cue were this library’s — neither compensate nor independent appears in the paper — and the pre-portioning recommendation is marked in Extracted knowledge as ours.)