Food labels should include exercise needed to burn off calories, U.K. researchers suggest

More than two-thirdsof people in the U.K. are either overweight or obese, andShirley Crameris hoping to curb that trend.

Exercise food labels

9 years ago

Duration 2:05

Front of pack symbols showing how much exercise it would take to burn off calories could change consumer behaviour

She's thechief executive of the Royal Society for Public Healthin Londonand wantsfood labels toincludeinformation on how muchexercise is needed to burn the calories the food contains.

It is called "activity-equivalent calorie labelling," and Cramer has writtenacommentary on the subject in the current edition of theBritish Medical Journal.

"Consumers take about sixseconds to make up their mind about a product," she told CBC News.

Many people find nutritional labelling "too confusing" because labels are often loaded with all kinds ofinformation that can be difficult to make sense of.

So, suggests Cramer, why not grab their attention with a catchy graphic illustratingjust how much physical activity you'll need to do to burn off thecalories you'll pack on by consuming the product.

For example, if you eat ablueberry muffin that has265 calories, you'll have to walk it off for48 minutes. If you're more of a runner,that'll take13 minutes. But not everyone burns calories at the same rate, so consumers will have to adjust the informationbased ontheir individual situation.

The above estimates, says Cramer, apply toa 35-year-old male who weighs 77 kg.

"The idea that a pictorialwhich indicates what the equivalent activity would be if you ate those crisps, or the muffin, or have the soft drink[conveys]is immediate," says Cramer. "Everybody can understand that."

An'in your face' strategyfor fightingobesity

In a survey conducted by the Royal Society, almost two-thirds of about2,000respondents said they would support the introduction of activity-equivalent calorie labelling and over half said they would positively change their behaviour after viewing that kind of labelling.

Most people don't know how many calories the average person needs to maintain a healthy weight, says Cramer.

"We need to be creative ...in your face...so this is a tactic, or a strategy, in the war on obesity," she said.

In a policy paper, the Royal Society for Public Health writes that targeting unhealthy food products with interventions that can positively influence behaviour change should be a priority for public health authorities.

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• Regular walking better than vigorous exercise, study finds
• Making food a sensual experience can help with weight loss

Cramer says it's pointless to preach to people about good eating behaviour, but thenew labelling she's proposing could help consumers make better, healthier food choices.

"If we put this activity-equivalent calorie labelling on unhealthier food, then we'd be hoping to make some difference in people's lives, that they would be making better choices," she said. "Anything to kick-start physical activity."

Exercisenot a weight loss drug

Not everybody is sold on the idea. Dr.YoniFreedhoff is the medical director of the BariatricMedical Institute in Ottawa.

"People believe that exercise is the ticket to the weight loss express," he said.

But, in fact, exercise doesn't burn that many calories.

Calories consumedoutweigh the calories exercised. For the most part, you cannot outrun your fork.- YoniFreedhoff, BariatricMedical Institute

"Having these food labels that say these are how many calories you need to exercise to burn this off, it perpetuates the notion that exercise and weight are tightly linked, and, surprisingly, they are not," Freedhoff said in an interview with CBC News.

Freedhoff said the majority of a person's weight is determined by their eating habits.

"This message oversimplifies exercise and undersells its benefits to everything else beyond weight and calories," he said.

Exercise is the world's best drug, says the obesity expert. It's just not a weight loss drug. Freedhoff says the activity-equivalent calorie labels speakto an overarching problem: people don't understand calories.

"I think we need to a better job of explaining to the public that calories consumedoutweigh the calories exercised. For the most part, you cannot outrun your fork."