EnglishLady
Veteran Expediter
Definitely a different approach 
Menus displaying the exercise needed to burn calories in meals can help people consume less, a US study suggests.
Diners given this extra information ordered and ate less calorific food than other customers, a team at Texas Christian University found.
Knowing it takes two hours of brisk walking to burn off a cheeseburger may be more of a warning than being told how many calories it contains, the researchers say.
They now plan larger trials.
Researchers Dr Meena Shah and Ashlei James divided 300 volunteers aged 18 to 30 randomly into three groups.
One received a menu without any calorie information, another menus with the calories displayed, and the third menus that showed both calories and the amount of exercise needed to burn them off.
All of the menus offered the same choice of food and drink, which included burgers, sandwiches, salad, chips, soft drinks and water.
They consumed 100 fewer calories, on average, as a result.
Dr Shah said: "This is the first study to look at the effects of displaying minutes of brisk walking needed to burn food calories on the calories ordered and consumed.
"This study suggests there are benefits."
The researchers say brisk walking is something nearly everyone can relate to.
"We can't generalise to a population over age 30, so we will further investigate this in an older and more diverse group," Dr Shah added.
They will present their findings at the Experimental Biology 2013 meeting in Boston.
BBC News - Walk-to-burn-calorie menu 'diet aid'
Menus displaying the exercise needed to burn calories in meals can help people consume less, a US study suggests.
Diners given this extra information ordered and ate less calorific food than other customers, a team at Texas Christian University found.
Knowing it takes two hours of brisk walking to burn off a cheeseburger may be more of a warning than being told how many calories it contains, the researchers say.
They now plan larger trials.
Researchers Dr Meena Shah and Ashlei James divided 300 volunteers aged 18 to 30 randomly into three groups.
One received a menu without any calorie information, another menus with the calories displayed, and the third menus that showed both calories and the amount of exercise needed to burn them off.
All of the menus offered the same choice of food and drink, which included burgers, sandwiches, salad, chips, soft drinks and water.
They consumed 100 fewer calories, on average, as a result.
Dr Shah said: "This is the first study to look at the effects of displaying minutes of brisk walking needed to burn food calories on the calories ordered and consumed.
"This study suggests there are benefits."
The researchers say brisk walking is something nearly everyone can relate to.
"We can't generalise to a population over age 30, so we will further investigate this in an older and more diverse group," Dr Shah added.
They will present their findings at the Experimental Biology 2013 meeting in Boston.
BBC News - Walk-to-burn-calorie menu 'diet aid'