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Smaller portions key to combatting obesity finds B-SM KPMG award winner

Smaller portions key to combatting obesity finds B-SM KPMG award winner

The Business-Society Management KPMG award for Best Master’s Thesis 2011 has been given to Jessica Veth for her research into obesity and food consumption behaviour. 

Ms Veth’s thesis “The Moderating Effect of Dietary Restraint on Calorie Estimations” , part of her MScBA studies at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) found that portion control is more effective than labelling food with calories in the fight to combat obesity. Her research included a number of interesting behaviour patterns such as the What the Hell effect that causes people to disregard the number of calories they eat and ignore sensible limits, for example in fast food restaurants. Jessica Veth was grateful to receive recognition for her work.

The prize is awarded each year by KPMG and RSM’s Department of Business-Society Management to a student whose research demonstrates outstanding, business relevance and applicability, creativity and innovation. It is considered one of the most important thesis awards in the field of corporate social responsibility in the Netherlands.

The jury remarked on the social impact of Ms Veth’s research and how it clearly demonstrates the practical use of academic research. The jury included Jan van den Herik, Director CSR at KPMG; Tim van Kooten, former Chief Issue Manager at Shell; Jan Bom, Chief Editor of P+ Magazine and Elfrieke van Galen; independent CSR advisor and former Director Sustainable Development at KLM.

Jessica Meth received a statuette and €1000 as first prize. Dorinda Reen was named as runner-up for her thesis entitled “Sustainability Disclosure and Firm Value – A European Study”, for which she received a voucher of €500. A special mention was also given to Alexander Reinhould for his thesis "Toward a Comprehensive Model of CEO Hubris", which investigated the archetypal behaviour of top enterprise leaders.

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University is consistently ranked amongst the top 10 business schools in Europe. It is located in the international port city of Rotterdam where core Dutch values of openness, flexibility and acceptance of diversity have attracted businesses on a global scale. Our emphasis is on ground breaking research and practices relevant to business; our primary focus is on developing business leaders who carry their innovative ideas into a sustainable future. Our portfolio includes a broad array of bachelor, master, doctoral, MBA and executive education programmes. www.rsm.nl

For more information on RSM or on this release, please contact Marianne Schouten, Media & Public Relations Manager for RSM, on +31 10 408 2877 or by email at mschouten@remove-this.rsm.nl