Most food labels contain the appropriate calorie content per serving, and the sight of such information has become so well-known that it’s possible it is overlooked. A study undertaken by Texas Christian University and suggested at a recent “Experimental Biology” event is far from concrete proof, but suggests that a different approach might be more efficient to encourage good dietary choices. Specifically, when menu items were listed alongside the amount of walking it would take to make up the calories contained in those items, participants generally made healthier selections. The study has received some press, and it’s perhaps thinkable that if this method were eventually proven and accepted by the medical community, it could affect the way food was labeled.
According to the British Broadcasting Company the group noticed that users of the “exercise menu” saved themselves around 100 calories compared to other users. In addition, calorie labels alone didn’t seem to make much of a difference.
The samples looked at people between 18 and 30, and Dr. Meena Shah, one of the researchers involved, asserted the limits of their findings. They are supposedly pursuing further tests with bigger groups.
“We can’t generalize to a population over age 30, so we will further investigate this in an older and more diverse group,” she said in a recent press release. “This is the first study to look at the effects of displaying minutes of brisk walking needed to burn food calories on the calories ordered and consumed.”
The standards that we think are set in stone sometimes have more potential for change than some might think. Having a color label printer on hand can be beneficial to a company in cases like this, when a major adjustment in industry practice suddenly needs to be implemented.