Saturday, April 30, 2011

Tricked By Food Marketing

I read and witnessed a few things this week that really opened my eyes to just how effective food marketing can be at making adults believe certain things about the foods they eat. Here are a few examples...


1) I read an article in Medical News Today about a study that showed that adults who take a dietary supplement (assuming it was a multivitamin of some sort) are less likely to eat healthy and do things to support their own health and well-being. The following is a passage from the article;

The results from the experiments and survey demonstrated that participants who believed they had taken dietary supplements felt invulnerable to health hazards, thus leading them to engage in health-risk behaviors. Specifically, participants in the perceived supplement use group expressed less desire to engage in exercise and more desire to engage in hedonic activities, preferred a buffet over an organic meal (Experiment 1), and walked less to benefit their health (Experiment 2) than the control group.


Source: iStockPhoto


Just ignore the fact that they are implying that an "organic meal" is automatically better for you than a buffet. I wish they wouldn't have written that. But these experimental results imply that adults are assuming that supplements can make up for a healthy diet. Well unfortunately they are sorely mistaken.



2) I received my Nutrition Action Healthletter in the mail this week, and inside there was an article about how external cues in our environment make us overeat. Two of those cues had to do with food marketing. First, a study showed that people ate 46 percent more calories when they were told a food was "low fat", even if they had rated the food as less appetizing as the original full-fat food. Second, people estimated the calories of an organic food to be 15 to 20 percent lower than it's non-organic counterpart, when in fact they were both the same. Both of these examples indicated that people were influenced negatively by food labels and marketing claims. Low fat does not mean low calories, and neither does "organic". Don't be fooled!



3) I went to dinner on Monday night with a friend from work. She told me she was using Slim-Fast to help her lose some weight. Soon after this she ordered fried chicken and french fries . No joke. To me this indicated that she believed she could lose weight by using Slim-Fast, despite anything else she ate. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe she just wanted a "break from the diet", but really? This is why fad diets don't work. You never learn how to actually eat healthy and keep the weight off after it's lost. I'll wait for her to ask me for help before I offer it, I just kept my mouth shut.


Source: iStockPhoto


Question: How do you react when people tell you something that you know just isn't true? People tell me crazy things they've heard from radio, tv, magazines, etc. all the time. It's hard to keep a straight face sometimes, but I try to give my honest opinion without being rude. That's what I'm here for....right??!!

23 comments :

  1. Wow! Some things are almost too crazy to be true!!

    I think people automatically assume organic=healthier. When in fact, it's not always like that!

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  2. Great post!

    I know people who "rely" on their multivitamin for their nutrition. Instead of seeing it as "insurance," they seem to think the vitamin provides them with all the nutrients they need, and they can eat junk most of the time. Maybe that's why I'm a bit reluctant when it comes to vitamins myself... I just don't think we know that they work and are absorbed just as well as vitamins, etc. from real food.

    I think the damage done by the "low fat" marketing campaigns that started years ago will take forever to be undone. I think so many people associate "low fat" with healthy and see it as as a license to eat as much as they want. Yet, the food often has the same calories and often nasty ingredients... And, yes, the organic = healthy equation is ridiculous, too!

    Finally, yes, you are here to set the record straight! :)

    Enjoy the rest of your weekend, Gina!

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  3. It's funny- I do tend to correct people on terrible health info, but I try to keep my mouth shut when I see people teaching their kids the total wrong thing (I mean obviously this is somewhat opinion based but still). I think when you are actually an expert it can come off as more annoying when you offer your opinion without being asked... but then again, the experts are the ones who SHOULD be giving opinions, so who knows!

    The thing that drives me the most crazy is when people try to lose weight by eating a salad every day for lunch, but then load it with 700 calories + of dressing. Then they complain about how I had a way better lunch than them and the salad didn't fill them up and I'm like you could've had my lunch, for a LOT less calories! I think I've mentioned before how annoyed this makes me. It's probably cuz I'm not a big salad person haha.

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  4. I just got my Nutrition Action Newsletter after being away all last week and I can't wait to read it, especially the cover article! It doesn't surprise me that they would focus on the ubiquitous external cues that give certain items a "health halo". So disappointing that marketers would exploit nutrition confusion to sell more product - but really, I didn't expect any better. I guess that's why we're here, right? To set the record straight (and you're doing a great job, Gina!) :)

    I react differently to crazy nutrition ideas out there depending on the person who's saying them. To people I don't know well, I don't say anything (unless they ask me a specific question). To my family, I HAVE to say something. They understand and respect the dietetics field, so it works out well.

    Have a great Sunday, Gina!

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  5. I have a live testimony of 1) my dad eats unhealthy food and too much of it thinking that with some supplements that he takes, he'll be fine. So not true, but I can't convince him.

    I think most of people just enjoys unhealthy food and lifestyle so much that although they want to lose weight, they prefer try the easy way although they won't help at all. I have a friend who haves 30lbs to lose, she doesn't workout and doesnlt want to change her eating habit. She just want to go a place, pay some money, go through some painful procedures ane believe and hope that miracles happen. People just don't want to do the simple way, workout and eat healthy. Because it's simple but hard.

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  6. Oh my, such an excellent post... It's SO hard sometimes to be in the health field and hear people say things you know aren't accurate or safe, and then what does one do? If the person isn't asking for my health advice as a nurse I usually stay quiet unless I know they're saying something that's dangerous to their health, like when my mother called to tell me she was stopping all of her asthma medications because she had read that decreasing time spent on a computer could cure asthma... Aaaaahhhh!!! That time, I spoke up, and told her she needed to keep taking those medications or her life could be at risk! Sheesh! The story of your friend and the fried chicken is remarkable... Wow... and the study about the vitamins is fascinating! I know Zach will be interested to learn about this one too! Thanks for keeping us updated!

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  7. Oh man! I totally agree with you on this post. I have multiple family members whom consume "imported" diet pills to lose weight yet practically live at mac donalds. I guess they think the pills are magical. But like you said, is good to leave those people alone until they ask for help.

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  8. Very often, people believe what they want to believe. While I do think marketing plays a big role, it's not everything. If someone really cares about their health, what they buy, what they do, they're going to get all the facts before believing something. Just because something says low fat (and it may have lower fat than another version of the same food) doesn't mean that the company is to blame for the consumer eating too much. Like you said, "don't be fooled." Everyone needs to take responsibility for what they eat and how they live. Whether it's a fad diet, or thinking it's okay to eat everything and never get exercise just because they're popping pills.

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  9. so crazy! if anything taking a vitamin or starting a diet should help you to make better choices not just for a quick fix. granted i am doing the hcg thing but it has really opened my eyes to how much junk i actually was eating while thinking it was healthy. once i am done, i am going to carry over all those healthy habits and incorporate them into a better eating plan for myself and my hubby.

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  10. I am totally fascinated by #2 on the list. I'm sure I do the same thing and eat more of a low calorie food than I do of a high calorie/high fat food and therefore sabotage my diet.

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  11. Great examples!

    I definitely face this all the time---clients like to tell me "what they know." They're often mistaken, and I am really careful about how I address it because I don't want to embarrass or offend anyone.

    Sometimes, I've also had people tell me I'm wrong about something nutrition-wise, when I know I'm not. I don't argue---I just state what I know, and then let them stay wrong if they're closed minded!

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  12. I think this just goes to show how most people want quick fixes but don't actually want to make lifestyle or dietary changes. I've also experienced a few of the same things..people downing vitamins so "I can eat whatever I want," etc. I think it's always good to set the record straight...in the long run, these kind of poor decisions will only harm attempts to be healthy.

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  13. haha your friend sounds like my coworker who says she's on a cleanse but then eats the easter chocolate hahaha i'd like to go on that cleanse..

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  14. I get so angry when people tell me obvious lies...I just always wish I had Google available to prove them wrong immediately!!

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  15. Very interesting post. I am a real cynic a and believe little of what the media throws out there

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  16. While my diet is far from perfect and I have a lot to learn re: nutrition, I'm always amazed to hear what other people really do not know about the subject. It's eye opening, isn't it?

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  17. That's so intersting about the multi vitamins. The only thing I ate is vitamin D and I rely on real foods for my vitamin and minerals. Just the way it should be! That's a funny story about your friend, but in reality I bet a lot of people think the same way.

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  18. Precisely. That is our job! I think one of the biggest struggles I've faced recently was trying to convince a friend of a friend that colon cleanses are useless for weight loss. She's still doing them. Guess I'm not very persuasive!!

    Great post, Gina!

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  19. I'm still learning to keep my opinions to myself in some instances! I have trouble staying quiet if someone is saying things I know aren't true. HAHA!

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  20. hahah you're better than I am because I would've blurted out something about her dinner choice.

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  21. It really depends who it is for me. If it's someone who genuinely believes and is taking to heart what they're saying, then I'll correct them.
    If it's someone who just likes hearing their own voice, I'll keep my mouth shut ;)

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  22. Great post as always. I am surprised at the supplement study as I was under impression supplement users are generally more healthy and more likely to engage in other healthy behaviors. I bet you have hundreds of examples like the one your friend gave you. If i feel someone is asking for my opinion I give it if not I tend to just hover and listen and then try to use sessions and my blog to set the record straight. Loved that nutrition action had another tidbit I was going to post about tomorrow.

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  23. A lot of the time I just bite my tongue or simply state that I disagree and leave it at that. If they want to talk more, I usually do, but people believe what they want, and most of the time my rebuttal will do nothing to sway them.

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