Dieters and overweight individuals are more likely to make healthy food choices if words related to health and weight are shown on restaurant menu’s, posters, and recipe cards, say researchers.

The study, conducted by Ester Papies and colleagues of Utrecht University, The Netherlands, will be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB).

Studies have shown that chronic dieters and overweight people are often heavily influenced by their eating habits, and by easily available food temptations in their environment. Furthermore, these people have been shown to have strong hedonic responses to tasty, high-calorie food cues in both behavioral and neuro-imaging studies, and tend to overeat when surrounded by attractive food.

In an earlier study, Papies and colleagues conducted an experiment in a local butcher store. They found that when a poster displaying a diet recipe was mounted on the door reminding customers of their health goal, they ate less bite size meat snacks that the store offered than on days when the poster was not displayed. In addition, they found that customers who were not worried about their weight were not affected.

According to the researchers, goal priming is an effective way to help people concerned about their weight.

The team also found that this strategy works in different settings. For instance, weight-concerned individuals were more likely to order healthy meals, such as salads, when subtle goal primes were incorporated into a restaurant menu.

The researchers then tested this priming strategy in a grocery store. Customers who were overweight or concerned about their weight were given a recipe flyer with health-related words. The team found that customers who were handed a flyer bought less unhealthy foods, such as chips, and cookies, regardless of how much attention they paid to the recipes.

According to the researchers, very little conscious awareness is required in order for such primes to affect health behavior.

They highlight that this strategy could be very effective helping individuals manage their weight as it is attractive to policy makers, inexpensive, unobtrusive, and easy to implement.

Written by Grace Rattue