Generic public health messages work best at shifting dietary behaviors


Date:
August 20, 2020
Source:
University of Bath
Summary:
A new health economics study warns that health information which
offers specific advice tailored to individuals can inadvertently
often backfire.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Generic public health messages, such as 'eat 5 fruit and vegetables
a day', are more effective at shifting dietary habits than very
specific advice and guidance tailored according to individual needs,
say researchers.


==========================================================================
In the new study from health economists, published in the journal European Economic Review, researchers tested the impact of different public health information on dietary choices across a sample of 300 people from low
income backgrounds.

In their experiment, which allocated a budget to individuals and asked
them to select items in a shopping basket, participants either received
very specific information individualised to them, received generic health information, or received no information at all.

For those provided tailored information, they were given
easy-to-understand information about their risks of developing
diabetes or heart disease, as well as easy-to-follow dietary and health recommendations to minimise risks.

The team from the universities of Bath and Edinburgh, with international colleagues at the University of Malta, found that participants who
received generic health information selected food baskets that, on
average, contained less total fat and less saturated fat (approximately
20% less) relative to the no information group, and spent 34% less on
unhealthy items. For those receiving tailored information, they found no difference in the number of unhealthy items chosen, nor in the nutritional content of the basket compared to the no information group.

The authors say this is because the majority of those who received
tailored information actually got better news about their own health than
they might have otherwise imagined. This meant individualised information
did not have an effect in the sense that participants were given a
'free pass' to continue with their current (unhealthy) dietary choices.

In the context of efforts to tackle obesity, including through the
UK's government's latest obesity strategy in response to COVID-19,
the researchers say this work should act as a warning about increasing
trends towards individualising health information. They suggest their
results may explain why efforts to offer personalised health information
by public health agencies have had limited success so far, including
the NHS's Health Check programme.

Dr Jonathan James from the Department of Economics at the University of
Bath explains: "Over recent years and in an effort to nudge us towards healthier behaviours there has been increased reliance on tailoring health information to make it very specific to individuals. This is premised
on a theory that by individualising advice and guidance it will have
more resonance with individuals and be harder to ignore.

"Yet, as our study shows, tailoring health information in this way is not
a silver bullet in tackling obesity; it can actually be less effective
at shifting behaviours than generic health information which is relevant
to all.

As we observed, this can be because the tailored information provided
actually gives a better assessment of someone's health than they may
have imagined and therefore inadvertently gives them a free pass to
continue to eat unhealthily." Co-author from Dr Jonathan Spiteri
from the University of Malta added: "Policymakers designing responses
to obesity need to bear these results in mind when considering future
health interventions. Often keeping it general when it comes to public
health messages will also make it most effective." These findings on
the impact of generic information are in line with recent evidence on
the effectiveness of information made available at the time of purchase,
such as calorie and health information on product labels.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Bath. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Miche`le Belot, Jonathan James, Jonathan Spiteri. Facilitating
healthy
dietary habits: An experiment with a low income
population. European Economic Review, 2020; 129: 103550 DOI:
10.1016/j.euroecorev.2020.103550 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200820110858.htm

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