Food: Can marketing muscle make us lean?

Western governments have invested heavily in campaigns to encourage healthier eating, but worsening obesity levels suggest the message is not getting across.

Food: Can marketing muscle make us lean?

Suzanna Forwood and Theresa MarteauUniversity of Cambridge

The waistlines of the West are getting larger, with increasing numbers of people in the US, UK and Australasia described as clinically obese. There is a consensus that environmental cues, which include food marketing, play a key role in our eating habits. Dr Suzanna Forwood and Professor Theresa Marteau explain how labelling food as healthy may have unintended consequences.

Promoting foods as fun and tasty, rather than as nutritious and healthy, increases their appeal

Marketing methods are broad and include advertising as well as 'below...

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