When served meals that were 50% larger, participants in a study ate an average of 400 more calories a day for a total of 4,473 more calories over 11 days.

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This research adds to evidence that supersized portions could be contributing to adult and child obesity.

In one study, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston fed dinner to 75 kids ages two to nine on three occasions. The meal was designed to be appealing to them: macaroni and cheese, corn, applesauce, baby carrots, chocolate-chip cookies and milk.

'Let Young Children Take the Lead'

The macaroni-and-cheese entree was served three different ways: an age-appropriate portion on the dinner plates; twice as much of the entree on the dinner plate; and twice as much made available in an individual serving dish instead of on the plate. Findings:

When the portion was doubled, the children ate an average of 29% more of the macaroni and cheese than when they were served the more appropriate amount. However, they ate slightly less of the other foods so that their calorie intake at the larger-entree meal was only about 13% higher. This happened with all ages, even those as young as two.

"Serve small portions to small eaters and let kids participate in serving themselves," says Jennifer Orlet Fisher, an assistant professor in Baylor's pediatrics department. "Let young children take the lead in deciding how much to eat."

Grown-Up Overeating

Studies have shown that adults eat more when served larger portions over the course of a day or two. But researchers wondered whether people would continue to overeat when served large portions for longer periods.

So Barbara Rolls, a nutrition professor at Pennsylvania State University, and colleagues had 23 normal-weight and overweight adults eat foods and beverages prepared in the university's nutrition lab for two 11-day periods.

Standard portions were served for one period. That amount was increased by 50% for the second period. The findings:

Participants ate an average of 400 more calories a day when served the larger portions for a total of 4,473 more calories over 11 days. In theory, that could be a 1 1/4-pound weight gain.

Losing Just a Little

Obese people who lose as little as 17 pounds likely will improve their cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar and other health-risk factors, says another study presented at the meeting.

"Modest weight loss improves nearly all parameters of health," says researcher Suzanne Phelan, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral medicine at Brown University.

Phelan worked with researchers at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where they recruited 180 women and 44 men who weighed an average of 235 pounds.

About 35% of the group had a condition called metabolic syndrome, which meant they had a minimum of three out of five health-risk factors.

Those factors might include a high waist circumference (greater than 40 inches for men and greater than 35 inches for women); high blood pressure; low HDL, or good cholesterol; high triglycerides; or high fasting plasma glucose. A combination of these risk factors raises the risk of several life-threatening illnesses.

The participants received weight-loss therapies, including behavior modification and the diet drug sibutramine, which works on the brain chemistry to reduce hunger and enhance the feeling of fullness. After one year: