Plate clearing and body mass index: a meta-analysis

Introduction: Larger food portions relate to higher food consumption. Thus, habitually finishing meals by eating the entire portion (so-called plate clearing or plate cleaning) may lead to weight gain. However, findings have been mixed: some studies reported small, positive associations between self-reported plate clearing tendencies and body mass index but other studies did not find a relationship.

Methods: A meta-analysis was performed on the correlation between self-reported plate clearing tendencies and body mass index.

Results: The pooled effect based on 22 studies was r=0.04 (95% CI [-0.02, 0.10]), indicating no relationship between plate clearing and body mass index. A meta-regression indicated that the percentage of women moderated the effect (b=-0.27, 95% CI [-0.50, -0.05]), suggesting that there might be a small, positive relationship between plate clearing and body mass index in men.

Conclusion: This meta-analysis does not indicate that habitual plate clearing relates to a higher body weight. Whereas self-report biases cannot be excluded based on the current study, persons with plate-clearing tendencies may have learned to adjust self-served portion sizes or may compensate caloric intake by increasing energy expenditure, thus preventing weight gain.

 

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Publication History

Article published online:
15 September 2025