Watch CBS News

Foods May Soon Come With Activity Labels In New Push To Cut Down On Obesity

LONDON (CBSMiami) – Your favorite foods may soon come with activity labels in a new push to cut down on obesity.

We've all been there, staring at the food aisle trying to decide what to buy.

Now, the Royal Society for Public Health in the UK hopes to make that decision easier by introducing activity labels to help people think before they eat.

"To make it easier for people to translate the calories they're consuming into their energy expenditure," said Royal Society for Public Health Deputy CEO Duncan Stephenson.

As a rough guide to the new system, here are some examples:

A chicken and bacon sandwich with 445 calories requires 42 minutes of slow running.

A chocolate bar with 229 calories would need 22 minutes of running.

Add a medium mocha coffee with 290 calories and you're running for 28 minutes.

In all, that's more than an hour and a half on the treadmill.

"It might make you think twice, 'Should I put them away or should I maybe be a bit more active?'" Stephenson said.

British researchers predict people could cut 200 calories a day with the new labels and would be three times more likely to get moving.

"I suspect there are quite a lot of people who might find it easier to understand that than to understand the kind of stuff that's on labeling at the moment.

Researchers believe the new system would not only curb appetites but also cut obesity rates.

"It's linked to cancers poor mental health, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, osteoarthritis," Stephenson said.

But health experts admit activity labels aren't the silver bullet against obesity because they say you can't outrun a bad diet.

Health officials hope to get approval to roll out activity labels in the UK in the near future.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.