PORTIONS-3

Obesity is a worldwide public health problem associated with multiple medical complications and a risk factor for infections such as COVID-19, leading to high public health costs. It is therefore of paramount importance to develop methods to treat overweight and obese people effectively and economically, especially in the long term. One of the problems core topic of obesity lies in the habits that lead to excessive energy consumption, among which the intake of too large portions or portions of starches, fats and sugars, to the detriment of vegetables and legumes, stands out. 

In response to this challenge, as part of two previous projects (PT028 "PORTIONS" and PT008 "PORTIONS-2") our group developed and validated a new portion plate prototype to educate and assist overweight people to consume balanced amounts of the different food groups from the per diem expenses. Although the plate was well accepted and confirmed as a promising tool for weight management, it needs to be further optimized and evaluated in the overweight population before being tested in large-scale clinical programs of study .

On the other hand, the transfer of the concept of "fixed portions" to other contexts, such as ready meals, offers the opportunity to explore the suitability of technologies for future industrial applications, for example, for the development of new food products and sustainable fixed portion tableware. Additionally, it opens an opportunity for the research of other types of instruments that support the control of intake, allowing an estimation of the nutritional and/or caloric value of the dish being consumed.

On this basis, the general goal of PORTIONS-3 is to optimize the design and enhance the impact of fixed portion instruments to improve their effectiveness in overweight people. Moreover, in partnership with the National Center for Food Technology (CNTA), the suitability of technological strategies for future industrial applications of the concept of balanced portions in other contexts will be explored.