Volume 44, Issue 1 , Page 1, January 2012
Empowering Nutrition Gatekeepers: The Products
Article Outline
In the last 20 years, the food industry has given us Chubby Hubby ice cream, Monster burgers, and deep-fried Snickers bars. Yet during the same time, the industry has innovatively helped us eat better and to eat less. Packaging innovations, such as resealable packaging and 100-calorie servings, have helped us better control our portions.1 Product innovations, such as increased fiber, protein, and whole grain content, has helped us feel more sated with less food.
This year’s theme for the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior is “Empowering Nutrition Gatekeepers: From Parents, to Products, to Policy.” This column emphasizes the empowering role of innovative food companies and restaurants.
In 2008, the United States Department of Agriculture formally encouraged food companies to “Partner with MyPyramid” and to help make it easier for us to eat within the Dietary Guidelines. Within one year, over 100 companies responded with creative and varied innovations that no government, no critic, and no consumer advocacy group could have ever imagined.2 When given encouragement and support, instead of criticism and threats, it was remarkable to see how the food industry responded so quickly.
What helps food companies innovate is knowing how people eat. This is where JNEB comes in. This issue of JNEB features a strategy restaurants can use to help dieters eat more sensibly,3 a labeling trick that helps foodservice workers identify whole-grain foods,4 and an insight on how packaging can better serve low-income consumers and older adults.5
If more affordable and more accessible food is associated with more obesity, the solution is not to make food less affordable and more scarce. The solution is to empower nutrition gatekeepers so they can make it easier for us to eat better. Our research is one of the ways we help.
References
- . Can package size accelerate usage volume?. J Marketing. 1996;60:1–14
- . Project M.O.M.: Mothers & Others & MyPyramid. J Am Diet Assoc. 2008;108:1302–1304
- . The effect of a Mindful Restaurant Eating intervention on weight management in women. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2012;44:22–28
- . School foodservice personnel’s struggle with using labels to identify whole grain foods. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2012;44:76–84
- . Exploring older adults’ health information seeking behaviors. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2012;44:85–89
PII: S1499-4046(11)00612-9
doi:10.1016/j.jneb.2011.11.003
© 2012 Published by Elsevier Inc.
Volume 44, Issue 1 , Page 1, January 2012
