Interesting short piece over at the economist blog about what works and doesn’t (mostly the latter) in policies that promote weight loss.
The conclusion is something for us to think about:
It takes more than a small financial incentive to change your lifestyle. Better education and awareness about nutrition and exercise is necessary. Unfortunately, that is harder and more expensive than taxing soda, subsidising weight loss, or encouraging people to plant gardens.
How can companies (like GE) get involved in better education and awareness around nutrition? (The title of the piece, The Biggest Loser, offers one hint.) Most of what’s out there is scare tactics (being overweight is dangerous to your heart!), which never seems to work particularly well. Maybe part of the answer lies in how we frame the situation, studies have shown that making people feel like everyone else around them is doing something (like eating too much) will only make them think they should be doing it too, not that they shouldn’t. The fact is that 32% of the US population is obese and while that may seem like a lot, it means that you can look to 2 out of 3 people around for better eating habits. Maybe that’s a slightly better way to frame the issue?