Will Activity Icons Help Us Lose Weight?

A simple icon in packaging that gives information on how much exercise is needed to burn off certain food "could help healthy living."

23:22 08 April 2016

Product labels provide information on calorie content but do not really give people a clear idea on how much exercise they need to burn off the calories.

 

Shirley Cramer, chief executive of the Royal Society for Public Health, says that a simple icon on food packaging that displays how much activity is needed to burn off the calories it contains “could help healthy living.”

 

Such simple action can promote awareness on how our diet and activity level affects our weight gaine. This is crucial as we are facing an obesity epidemic with two in three of us are either obese or overweight. And one of the main reasons for this problem is that we are consuming far more calories than we burn.

 

Aside from an unhealthy diet, most of us also do not get enough physical activity. So, next time that you think about consuming a chocolate bar, you can think about how long you need to walk or how many crunches you need to do to lose the calories you’re about to consume. Perhaps, that alone can discourage you from eating unhealthy food or encourage you to be more active.