We've all done it before. We've eaten an extra donut or candy bar and promised to work out a little harder later.
But what if your food's label could show you exactly how much you would have to exercise to make up for the calories? That's what's happening in the United Kingdom!
The Royal Society for Public Health is behind the new system.
According to a hand out from the society, the numbers may look like this: A 445-calorie chicken and Bacon sandwich would take 42 minutes of slow running. A 229-calorie chocolate bar would cost you 22 minutes of running. And a medium mocha coffee worth 290 calories would take 28 minutes to work off. Altogether, you’d spend more than an hour and a half on the treadmill if this is your lunch.
“It might make you think twice. Should I put them away? Or maybe I should be a bit more active?” says Duncan Stephenson, the deputy CEO of the Royal Society.
Britons are predicted to cut 200 calories a day with the new labels, according to British researchers. They also predict people would be three times more likely to exercise.
The goal is to cut down obesity rates and their variety of negative health effects. “It's linked to cancers, poor mental health, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, osteoarthritis,” says Stephenson.
Brits that CBS news interviewed seem to be generally positive on the system so far. London resident, Mike Kirkham, said: “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.”
But health experts warn that the labels aren’t the singular solution for obesity because you can’t outrun a bad diet.