Teens told it will take an hour to run off the calories from a sugary soda will often drink water instead, says a new study from Johns Hopkins University. Researchers from the university’s Bloomberg School of Public Health went to four corner stores in low-income neighborhoods in Baltimore, Md. where tweens and teens were likely to stop.
They collected data on what types of beverages teens purchased when signs in the store contained the following information.
• “Did you know that a bottle of soda or fruit juice has about 250 calories?”
• “Did you know that a bottle of soda or fruit juice has about 10 percent of your daily calories?”
• “Did you know that working off a bottle of soda or fruit juice takes about 50 minutes of running?”
After looking at 1,600 beverage purchases, they found that when the signs were posted, teens were 40 percent less likely to choose juice or soda than when there were no signs about calorie content in the store. And when signs contained information about the physical activity required to work off calories from the sugary drink, juice and soda purchases dropped by 50 percent.
The study appeared Dec. 15 in the American Journal of Public Health.
Interested in finding out how long it might take to work off some of your favorite treats? Check out this “Exercise Counts” tool from the American Cancer Society.
Tags: calories, child obesity, physical activity