Bring Back Plate Dividers

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Bring Back Plate Dividers

 

 

Over the weekend, I came across a situation that I found really interesting and wanted to share my thoughts.  Sunday football has always been a day where my friends and family would come together to cheer on our favorite team and enjoy a full plate of delicious food. Being the nutrition student I am, I try to get creative with my recipes to help show others that healthy eating can be delicious. Every week I encourage those around me to try my dish with the hope that they will start incorporating these healthy sides into their diet. I typically get a good response. However, I noticed that people would rarely try my dish without me asking them to do so first. I never took it personal because I knew I just wanted people to try the healthier side choices. The previous Sunday I noticed my side dish was more popular than previous weeks and I wondered why. Besides it being delicious, I also noticed everyone in the room had it on their plate without me pushing them to try it. I was pleasantly surprised. I didn’t understand why until I went to build my own plate, and then I understood. 

 

 

That week, instead of using the typical reusable plates, we chose to use plastic plates that had dividers. It was most likely due to someone not wanting to do the extra dishes. However, I believe due to the divided plates, people were more willing to try my healthy side dish on their own due to the dynamic of the plate. When you look at this plate, it communicates with your subconscious by influencing you to include 2 sides along with your entree. Wouldn’t you feel incomplete if you only included 1 or no sides to fill the designated spots? My theory is people are more likely to incorporate sides to their plate if they are reminded by the plate itself. After several hours of research, I was unable to find an experiment that was correlated with my theory. However, I did noticed that many research experiments have been conducted to measure nutrition outcomes from having a variety of different plates. Most of them were manipulating the size and weight of the plates, and the findings were significant. It’s interesting that the type of plate can have such an influence on ones eating behavior.

When you look at MyPlate, you can see how the plate is divided into 4 major categories. This image provides a good representation of what your plate should actually look like for most meals. Fruits and vegetables are most commonly presented as side dishes. Having a plate that reminds us to incorporate sides in every meal could therefore have an influence on our fruit and vegetable intake. Many people remember using divided plates as children, but why should we stop using them as we get older? If people were given plates with these dividers more frequently I believe that it would lead to more balanced meals without much effort.

 

Healthy sides to incorporate into every meal:

a.     Baked vegetables (broccoli, Brussel sprouts, asparagus)

b.     green beans

c.      fruit salad

d.     Side salads

e.     Baked beans

f.      Seasonal casserole

g.     Apple

h.     Mix berries

i.       Vegetable soup

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