Although most people know which foods are healthy and which foods aren’t, people are still choosing unhealthy for many reasons. However, there are some ways to encourage healthier choices with mixed results. Having menus printed with calorie counts has not significantly increased healthier choices. Tying those counts to something more tangible like how much exercise is needed to work it off has better results. Seeing others making healthy choices, in essence peer pressure, also seems to have a greater effect than the manipulation of portion perception such as smaller plates or utensils.

Key Takeaways:

• We are all aware of what is healthy for us and what is not in regards to food choices. Yet most of the population are fat and unhealthy. It appears to be by design.
• There are other entities that come into play when dealing with our consumption and they are the advertisers and corporations that are hindering healthy eating on a daily basis by subtle visual changes
• Whether it be our positioning, visual stimulus on packaging or even the environment color, the only way to succeed is to be proactive when you dine out because you are being manipulated!

“Organisations like hospitals, staff canteens and schools can also harness the power of social norms by displaying healthy meals of an appropriate size as normal and pleasurable choices made by people like us.”

Read more: https://theconversation.com/choosing-healthy-food-your-surroundings-can-help-or-hinder-your-dining-choices-76445