Cornell University. US: Do you resolve to eat healthier and lose weight in 2015? Watch out for
this “healthy illusion” discovered by researchers at the Cornell Food
and Brand Lab.
First, the researchers found that shoppers spend 15% more on food during
the holiday season (Thanksgiving to New Year’s) and only about 25% of
that additional food is healthy. This means that during the holidays we
tend to buy more junk food—not a big surprise. “What was surprising, was
the second finding of the study” says lead author Lizzy Pope, who led
the study as a post-doctoral student at Cornell, and recently joined the
University of Vermont's Dept. of Nutrition and Food Sciences, “After
the New Year, shoppers continued to purchase a greater amount of food
and while more healthy food did make it into their carts, they continued
to buy the less-healthy items too!” After the New Year, shoppers
actually took home 9% more calories than they did during the holidays!
For this study, 207 households were recruited to participate in a 7
month study to track grocery store spending behaviors. These households
shopped at one of two participating grocery stores in upstate New York.
Grocery purchase data were collected from July 2010 to March 2011. To
capture the impact of holiday shopping, the data were divided into three
time periods. July to Thanksgiving was considered baseline spending
(how much the average shopper regularly spends per week on groceries)
Thanksgiving to New Years was considered the holiday season, and New
Years to March the post-holiday period. The researchers then compared
these three time periods to find differences in shopping patterns. “We
wanted to see how New Year’s resolutions and the end of the ‘holiday
season’ impact grocery shopping habits, both how much food people buy
and how many calories the foods contain,” explains co-author David Just,
Cornell University. Foods were categorized as healthy or less-healthy
based on a nutritional rating system used by the participating grocery
stores.
“Despite New Year’s resolutions to eat healthier, people tend to hang on
to those unhealthy holiday favorites and keep buying them in the New
Year,” says co-author Drew Hanks, Ohio State University. “What we
recommend based on these findings is instead of just adding healthy
foods to your cart, substitute the less healthy foods for fresh produce
and other nutrient rich foods—the calories will add up slower and you’ll
be more likely to meet your resolutions and shed those unwanted
pounds.”