Kersbergen, I. orcid.org/0000-0002-8799-8963, German, A.J., Westgarth, C. orcid.org/0000-0003-0471-2761 et al. (1 more author) (2019) Portion size and meal consumption in domesticated dogs: An experimental study. Physiology & Behavior, 204. pp. 174-179. ISSN 0031-9384
Abstract
Increases in food portion sizes have been identified as a possible contributor to the increased prevalence of obesity in humans. However, little is known about the origin of behavioural tendencies to overeat from larger portion sizes or whether other non-human animals are affected by meal portion size. In the present experimental study, we examined the effect that larger portion sizes have on meal consumption among domesticated dogs (N = 32). Dogs were fed three meals that varied in size on different occasions (150%, 200% and 300% of usual portion size). A repeated measures design was used and food consumption was measured for each meal. Portion size positively affected food consumption, with dogs eating significantly more food as the portion size of meal increased. The effect of portion size on food consumption was also observed when the dogs that finished all available food were excluded from analyses, however not among dogs who did not finish any of the meals. We conclude that the influence larger portions have on food consumption observed in humans is also observed in domesticated dogs. However, it is unclear whether portion size directly biases the amount of food dogs choose to consume, as has been suggested in humans. Further research is now warranted to examine commonalities between human and non-human animal eating behaviour to understand shared behavioural tendencies and their origins.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Portion size; Food intake; Feeding behaviour; Dogs; Animals |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > School of Health and Related Research (Sheffield) > ScHARR - Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 01 Mar 2019 10:44 |
Last Modified: | 19 Nov 2021 08:50 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.physbeh.2019.02.034 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:143136 |