Quick Study tidbits

There are a few studies that have caught my eye with interesting things:

The February issue of the American Journal of Public Health had a study that showed that putting calorie information as an exercise equivalent may reduce the likelihood of purchasing a sweet beverage by as much as half. I think this is brilliant, I think they should do this with jelly-beans and chocolates. I know if I saw that it would take me thirty minutes of straight jogging to burn off a 1/2 cup jellybeans I would be a lot more careful with quantity. Calories can sometimes be an abstract thing to think about, telling me how much physical activity it would take to burn those calories makes them a lot more real.

The August issue of Journal of Consumer Research had a study that showed using larger plates resulted in serving 9-31 percent more food. However, using plates that had a high color contrast with the food reduced how much participants served by 21 percent. So if you are really interested in portion control take a look at your plate size and the color of plates vs the color of your food. I am always fascinated by these subconscious factors that can really play a big role in the foods and amounts of food we consume.

And another reason to develop a good relationship with your kids was found in the January journal Pediatrics. A study in this journal showed that children who lack secure relationships with their mothers face more than double the risk of obesity at age 15 vs those who had warmer ties. Not saying that those with obesity don't have good relationships with their moms but it is interesting to me how many non-food factors there are in the obesity epidemic.

Note: summaries of these studies were found in the Spring 2012 edition of the Food & Nutrition magazine, a publication by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.