"Most cases of type 2 diabetes are directly related to obesity, note investigators, and the obesity epidemic is paralleled by increasing portion sizes in the marketplace."

"In a study of 130 obese type 2 diabetic adults, Dr. Sue D. Pedersen and colleagues from University of Calgary, Alberta, randomly assigned roughly half of the subjects to use a portion-control dinner plate and a portion-control breakfast bowl for six months. The other half, serving as a control group, received usual care, which consisted of dietary assessment and counseling."

"The portion control dinner plate used in the study has clearly marked sections for carbohydrates, proteins, cheese and sauce, and vegetables and provides roughly an 800-calorie meal for a man and a 650-calorie meal for a woman. The cereal bowl provides a 200-calorie meal of cereal and milk."

"Pedersen's team found, based on 122 subjects completing the study, that those using portion-control dishes lost an average of 2.1 kg (5.6 lbs), or 1.8 percent of their body weight - significantly more than control subjects who shed an average of just 0.1 kg (0.27 lbs), or 0.1 percent of their body weight."

"Moreover, a significantly greater proportion of subjects using portion-control dishes achieved at least 5-percent weight loss (16.9 percent versus 4.6 percent for controls). "This is important," the authors note, because this level
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