Traffic light labels that indicate the overall "healthiness" of a food product are more effective in helping consumers resist high-calorie foods than the traditional information-based label, according to a new German study published in the journal Obesity. "Red" symbolises a high percentage of fat, sugar or salt; "green" a lower percentage, and "yellow" falls in the middle. Scientists at the University of Bonn observed 35 adult participants lying in a brain scanner as they made purchase decisions for 100 products from chocolate to yogurt to ready-to-serve meals. Participants were willing to pay significantly more money for the same product when the traffic light label was "green" - and less money for a "red" label - compared with an information-based label. "You can conclude that the traffic light label acts as a reinforcer: the health relevance of the ingredients is weighed more heavily into purchasing decisions compared to simple nutritional information," says one of the study's authors, Laura Enax.
Remember when a pregnant mum was told she's eating for two? Think again. Excessive pregnancy weight gain has been linked with greater overall and abdominal body fat in children - and about a 300 per cent increased risk of the child's obesity at age seven - in new research by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. The study was based on data from more than 720 African-American and Dominican mothers who were part of another Columbia study from 1998 to 2013. Findings are published online in the journal Maternal & Child Nutrition.
