EB: Displaying Exercise Needed to Burn Food Calories Effective

Displaying amount of exercise needed to burn off menu items shows benefits over just listing calories

FRIDAY, April 26 (HealthDay News) -- Displaying the amount of exercise needed to burn off the calories of menu items may lead to lower-calorie food choices in young people, according to a study presented at Experimental Biology 2013, held from April 20 to 24 in Boston.

Ashlei James, from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, and colleagues randomly assigned 300 men and women (aged 18 to 30 years) to a menu without calorie labels (NCL; 99 participants), a menu with calorie labels (CL; 99), or a menu with labels on the minutes of brisk walking needed to burn the food calories (EL; 102). The same food/beverage options were listed on all menus.

The researchers observed a significant menu effect on both calories ordered and consumed. In the EL group compared to NCL group there were significantly fewer calories ordered (adjusted mean, 763 versus 902 kcal) and consumed (adjusted mean, 673 versus 770 kcal). The CL and the NCL groups did not differ significantly in the food calories ordered or consumed. Similarly, there was no difference between the CL and the EL groups. Post-lunch calorie intake did not differ by menu condition.

"This study suggests there are benefits to displaying exercise minutes to a group of young men and women. We can't generalize to a population over age 30, so we will further investigate this in an older and more diverse group," a coauthor said in a statement. "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."

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