Health warning messages about sugar are ineffective on consumers, even on a diet, according to the results of a study published in the medical journal The Journal of the association for consumer research. In fact, the expected effect would be opposite to that sought since they would even push them to eat more.
Researchers from the University of Arizona (USA) compared the effects of nutritional information messages on sugar consumption to understand which were the most effective. They subjected three groups of people to three types of messages on sugar, positive, negative or neutral. Volunteers who saw the warnings said they had positive thoughts for the sugary snacks.
In a second experiment, the researchers observed the same phenomenon with diet participants. During a third experiment, the scientists observed that the most reasonable people about sugar were those who had received a non-guilt message about this food.
“Messages that demonize sugary foods have a perverse effect on dieters and tend to make them eat more of them. On the contrary, we note that associating positive ideas with a prevention message gives much more encouraging results,” explains Naomi Mandel, professor of marketing at the University of Arizona.
Sugar, to be consumed in moderation
In March 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended a significant drop in the amount of sugar we eat every day. She wanted adults and children to reduce their sugar intake to 10% of their daily energy intake. These recommendations seem too high for the National Health Service (NHS) and Public Health England who have published a new report that recommends consuming no more than 5% of daily caloric intake for added sugars.
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