Weight Loss Dirt & Tips: Graphics May Help Diners To Eat Right

A study has found that using numbers or graphics in the form of traffic lights can help lessen the calorie intake of diners, and help them eat right.

The US Food and Drug Administration, in an effort to reduce the daily calorie intake of Americans, required chain restaurants to indicate the number of calories that each offered food item contains. A new study, however, has found that another effective way to help diners choose low-calorie menu items is through using graphics: in the form of green, yellow, and red traffic lights.

"We find that either numbers or traffic lights have the same beneficial effect when it comes to taking in fewer calories," study authors Eric M. VanEpps, Julie S. Downs, and George Loewenstein, all from Carnegie Mellon University, said via a press release.

The study had arrived at the results after a field experiment. Employees of the large health-care company Humana were grouped into two, and were asked to order lunch through an online order placement platform designed by the study authors. The employees in the control group were not given any calorie information regarding the lunch item offered, while employees in the experimental group were given either the food item's calories in number, a traffic light indicating an approximate amount of calories for the food item, or both.

The traffic lights used in the study theoretically work in the same way as in road traffic: "green" means go (few calories, least worries), "yellow" means caution (moderate amount), and "red" means stop (highest calorie content).

It was found that when people were given either numbers or graphics, the food chosen by the employees were those of low calorie content.

"In our particular study," wrote the authors, "either method resulted in food choices that contained 10 percent fewer calories."

To date, this study gives the most promising evidence that calorie information, when provided through numbers or graphics, does encourage consumers to eat foods with fewer calories.

According to the FDA, giving calorie information to consumers will help them make better decisions when it comes to food choices. Although numbers are still considered the best way to inform the general public, the researchers note that not all are able to interpret numbers, and thus the study results will help bridge that gap.

“For those consumers, traffic light labels can communicate basic ‘eat this, not that’ information regardless of their understanding of the underlying nutrients or ability to use numeric information,” the authors write as per EurekAlert!.