Kathmandu, December 13

Researchers of Loughborough University, U.K claimed that obesity could be battled with the new food labeling system that indicate how much exercise would be needed to burn off the food's calories.

The researches proposed Physical Activity Calorie Equivalent (PACE) food labeling system with the aim of showing how many minutes or miles of physical activity are needed to burn off the calories in a particular food or drink, said the press release issued by the university.

For example, eating 230 calories in a small bar of chocolate would require about 46 minutes of walking or 23 minutes of running to burn off these calories.

Professor Daley, who led the research team with the researchers from the Universities of East Anglia and Birmingham, calculated that if PACE labeling was widely applied, on average, it might shave off up to 200 calories per person per day.

As per the release, the project team examined research databases and other relevant online resources for studies that compared PACE labeling with other types of food labeling or none for potential impact on the selection, purchase, or consumption of food and drink products (excluding alcohol).

The researchers found that 15 relevant randomized controlled studies and pooled the data from 14 of them. The results showed that when PACE labeling was displayed on food and drink items and on menus, on average, significantly fewer calories – around 65 less per meal – were selected.

Meanwhile, the UK Royal Society for Public Health has already suggested using PACE labeling system to replace the current food labeling system, however there has been need of strong evidence to back the claim as the study was done using small group.

Hamro Doctor