Testing shows Pace Food labeling reduces sugary food purchases in schools

Testing shows Pace Food labeling reduces sugary food purchases in schools

A trial of alternative food labels in English secondary schools that showed the number of minutes of physical activity needed to burn off calories reduced the purchase of sugary foods by a little, new research has found.

The study was conducted by Dr. Natalia Iris and Professor Amanda Daley, who are part of Loughborough University's Center for Lifestyle Medicine and Behavior (Climb).

It analyzed almost 100,000 purchases of cakes and biscuits from 11 school canteens over a six-week period. Six schools used physical activity calorie equivalent (PACE) food labeling on their sweet treats, and five schools continued their usual practice.

Pace food labeling aims to show how many minutes or miles of physical activity are required to burn off the calories in a particular food or drink. For example, eating 230 calories in a small chocolate bar would take about 46 minutes of walking or 23 minutes of running to burn off those calories.

Analysis of school cafeteria data found that cake and cookie purchases in intervention schools were reduced by approximately 11 items per week per 100 students compared to comparison points.

Regarding the results, Dr. Natalia Iris: “While labeling the Tempo only reduces the purchase of these sweet treats by a small amount, the study shows that this type of food labeling can be a useful approach to reducing the consumption of sugary foods in young people in the school environment.

"Implementing pace labeling appeared to be possible for some schools, but others had concerns about the detrimental impact of this type of labeling on student welfare. It is important to take this into account when considering the wider rollout of pace labeling."

Evidence shows that even a relatively small reduction in daily calorie intake (100 calories) coupled with a sustained increase in physical activity is likely to be good for health and could curb obesity at the population level. Pace labeling can help people of all ages achieve this. “

Professor Amanda Daley, Loughborough University

the paper,Physical Activity Calorie Equivalent (Pace) Food Labeling for Discretionary Foods in Secondary School Canteens in England: An Effectiveness Cluster Randomized Controlled Trialwas published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Footch Activity.

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