Paul Rozin, et al (2003) The Ecology of Eating: Smaller Portion Sizes in France Than in the United States Help Explain the French Paradox, Psychological Science 14(5), 450-454. This paper evaluated portion sizes and documented that, compared to America, French portion sizes are smaller (a) in comparable restaurants, (b) in the sizes of individual portions of foods in supermarkets, and (c) in portions specified in cookbooks, etc. The paper suggests this is one of the reasons for what is described as the “French paradox”. Included in the French paradox is a lower mean BMI for men and women, compared to Americans. It is concluded that one of the key reasons for the lower BMI is that the portion sizes are smaller and the rate of eating is more leisurely.