Why you should try food ‘nudging’
Changing eating habits could be as easy as changing the location of your food.
There are loads of factors that influence what you choose to eat. You might select your next meal based on what you feel like eating, if it’s available and whether you have any dietary requirements.
But there’s another factor that may sway your decision. That is, whether you’ve experienced ‘food nudging’.
What is food nudging?
The concept is all about putting healthy foods in easy-to-reach, enticing locations. When you do that, you can then ‘nudge’ yourself to make better food choices.
And a new review shows it works.
The review, published in the British Journal of Nutrition online in April this year, analysed the effects of a food’s physical position on our desire to eat it.
The review included eighteen studies, sixteen of which found that simply altering a food’s location changed people’s eating habits.
Supermarkets already know this.
That’s why certain products are placed at eye level to lure you into choosing them. In that instance, food is nudged for the retailer’s benefit.
So how can we use food nudging to our advantage?
While we have no control over where food is placed at the supermarket, we can try food nudging at home.
And even little nudges can have great benefits, says Associate Professor Federico J. A. Perez-Cueto from the Department of Food Science at the University of Copenhagen, who worked on the review.
He says that doing something little - like going “from zero to one” portion of vegetables a day - will contribute to improved health.
If you’re ready to nudge yourself into better habits, try these tips:
Put fruit in clear plastic bowls
A study published in the journal Environment and Behavior in 2012 showed that when fruit is put in clear plastic bowls (as opposed to opaque bowls), students were more likely to eat them.
Just making the fruit clearly visible made it more appealing.
Put healthy food in an easy-to-reach spot
A further study, published in 2015 in the journal Psychology and Marketing, showed that when food was placed in a convenient, attractive position, participants were more likely to eat it.
Interestingly, this happened even when there were more enticing options located further away.
(Now that’s a good reason to hide your Tim Tams at the back of your pantry.)
Pre-prepare healthy snacks
Pre-cut vegetable sticks and keep them in a clear plastic container in the fridge, says Accredited Practicing Dietitian Jessica Bailes.
She recommends keeping hummus, salsa or peanut butter (whatever you prefer) on hand to make these snacks more appealing.
She also advises preparing healthy snacks you can take with you on the go, like a bag of unsalted nuts. That way, when you start to feel peckish, the easiest option is to eat the healthy snack you brought with you, rather than search for something else.
Clear your bench of everything, except a fruit bowl
Keep your fruit bowl brimming with colourful fruit that you actually enjoy, says Bailes, and leave it visible on your kitchen counter.
Next, clear your kitchen counter of other food options. So when you wander into the kitchen for a snack, you’re more likely to grab what you see: that is, a fresh, juicy piece of fruit.
When possible, cook enough for leftovers, suggests Bailes.
She says it’s easy to then nudge yourself to heat them up when you’re hungry, rather than raid your cupboard for other (less healthy) alternatives.