Make the connection between and good health
ALWAYS CHECK THE LABEL, SAYS FITNESS EXPERT
RESEARCHERS at Loughborough University have suggested that including ‘exercise images’ on food labels will help tackle the obesity crisis. The theory goes that converting calories into the amount of exercise needed to burn them off will make people think twice about how much they eat. For example, a symbol of a runner with the number 40 would indicate you have to jog for 40 minutes to offset the calories of a Mars Bar.
It’s an approach which makes a lot of sense, and not just for those who are struggling with weight. Providing information in the most basic and easy to understand form will help more people make an informed decision when it comes to the food they consume.
Better still, it can be understood by people of different ages, abilities, and even languages. The simple mechanism of seeing the exact amount of exercise recommended in black and white may well help individuals choose the healthier option and think twice about the amount of movement we should do each day.
This specific idea may not come to reality, but it has put the subject of food labelling in the spotlight again and that’s great. Because we tend to forget that there is already a good amount of information out there to help us choose the right foods – you just have to look for it!
START WITH THE BASICS
WE all know packaged food includes nutritional information listing the values of energy, fat, carbohydrates, sugar, fibre, protein and salt. The trouble is, this can be confusing. When it comes to making quick decisions, simplicity is key.
Which is exactly why we shouldn’t forget the Government’s traffic light system. It makes labels much easier to understand by colour coding the nutritional values: green equals good, red equals bad, amber is OK in moderation.
By simply choosing foods with more green than red you can be confident you are making the healthier choice without getting stuck in the details.
And the great thing is, it’s simple enough for kids to understand too, so they can also be encouraged to follow the system. Next time you go shopping as a family, for example, why not encourage them to look for the green and amber in their favourite treats rather than those with red. Make a bit of a game of it.
Depending on your family’s eating habits you could introduce a blanket ban on anything red, or limit products with red on the label to just twice a week. The more you do it together the more natural making the healthy choice will become.
SUGARY SECRETS
READING the label will also help you cut out foods which have been marketed to suggest they are low fat but are actually not that healthy.
For example, sugar is often used to improve the flavour of low-fat items. But free sugars – sugar added to food or drink rather than those naturally found in fruit – do not provide us with any nutrients. And too much sugar means extra calories, which can lead to obesity, raising your risk of heart disease and other conditions. As well as avoiding sugars which are labelled red, learning how to
identify sugars – particularly