Equivalence-Based Instruction to Improve Portion-Size Estimation with Different Vessels

Abstract

Obesity, which increases individuals’ risk for a variety of health problems and is associated with increased health-care expenses, is considered a public health concern due to the rapidly increasing rates of people who are considered obese (World Health Organization [WHO], 2018). One potential method for decreasing rates of obesity is to teach people how to more accurately estimate portion sizes to decrease the amount of calories they consume. Previous researchers successfully taught participants to accurately estimate portion sizes through equivalence-based instruction. The purpose of the present study was to teach healthy adults to estimate portion sizes using nonfood items and to assess generalization of the skill across a variety of vessels not associated with training (a small plate, bowl, and plastic bag). All participants demonstrated improved accuracy of portion size estimations following training with both the training vessel and the generalization vessels.