A lot of people think losing weight is a simple matter of pushing away from the table. But those of us who’ve had a lifelong battle with our bellies know it’s not that simple. We try diets but end up feeling deprived in a world of riches. We try exercise but never seem to find the time. We try to eat healthier but find our budgets just don’t extend far enough. We try accupuncture, hypnosis, support groups and even surgery. Sometimes these things work. Most of the time they don’t.
But I support whatever works for you. Recently, I saw this little story about a way to trick people into buying more healthy food.
Designating a part of a shopping cart specifically for fruits and vegetables boost purchase of these healthy foods.
Okay, this sounds interesting, tell me more. This is from Asylum.com.
Researchers from New Mexico State University‘s College of Business used a strip of duct tape to make a line through the middle of shopping carts in a Las Cruces, N.M., grocery store. They also posted a sign on each cart that recommended that fruits and vegetables be placed on one side of the line. Shoppers who had one of the special carts bought 102 percent more fruits and veggies than those who had regular carts.
Despite the change in shopping habits, the special carts didn’t change the amount of overall money the shoppers were spending.
While this study could be probably be used to help make America less fat, we suspect, instead, we will soon see a Coca-Cola section in our shopping carts.
That last bit is way too believable. What if we designed new carts with separate sections for various types of food? This would have limited space for processed food and soda. What do you think?
