Abstract
Objective
We identify individuals who set daily intake budgets and examine if an intervention making people estimate their calorie intake up to a certain point in the day helps those setting daily budgets to regulate their calorie intake for the remainder of the day, after high prior consumption.
Design
We conducted an online experiment in five countries: Australia, China, Germany, India, and the UK (n = 3,032) using a 2 (setting calorie budget: yes vs. no, measured) x 2 (intervention: intake reminder vs. control, manipulated) between-subjects design, with the amount of prior consumption measured. Participants were contacted in the afternoon. Those in the intervention condition were asked to estimate their prior calorie intake on that day.
Main outcome measures
We measured the individual characteristics of those who set daily calorie budgets and the intended calorie intake for the remainder of the day.
Results
Among people who set daily calorie budgets, the intervention reduced intended calorie intake for the remainder of the day by 176 calories if they had already consumed a high amount of calories that day.
Conclusion
A timely intervention to estimate one’s calorie intake can lower additional intended calorie intake among those who set daily calorie budget.
We identify individuals who set daily intake budgets and examine if an intervention making people estimate their calorie intake up to a certain point in the day helps those setting daily budgets to regulate their calorie intake for the remainder of the day, after high prior consumption.
Design
We conducted an online experiment in five countries: Australia, China, Germany, India, and the UK (n = 3,032) using a 2 (setting calorie budget: yes vs. no, measured) x 2 (intervention: intake reminder vs. control, manipulated) between-subjects design, with the amount of prior consumption measured. Participants were contacted in the afternoon. Those in the intervention condition were asked to estimate their prior calorie intake on that day.
Main outcome measures
We measured the individual characteristics of those who set daily calorie budgets and the intended calorie intake for the remainder of the day.
Results
Among people who set daily calorie budgets, the intervention reduced intended calorie intake for the remainder of the day by 176 calories if they had already consumed a high amount of calories that day.
Conclusion
A timely intervention to estimate one’s calorie intake can lower additional intended calorie intake among those who set daily calorie budget.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 459-477 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Journal | Psychology and Health |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 2 Sept 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Apr 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Funding
This work was supported by the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (CERG 692413, ECS 26500116) and a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant (MSIT; No. 2018R1D1A1B07043313).
Keywords
- Calorie information
- nutrition labeling
- menu labeling
- behavior change
- intervention
- mental budgeting
