Association between mouth opening and upper body movement with intake of different-size food pieces during eating

Mouth opening, head-neck rotation angle and the amount of upper body forward translation and inclination increased with larger apple pieces. However, isolated relative head motion was stabilized. We conclude that upper body forward motion and head-neck rotation assist mouth opening whilst stabilizing head orientation, and that the range of head-neck rotation angle, upper body translation and range of mouth opening change with food size during realistic eating.