applying behavioural insights to policy making health and nutrition

© Behavioural Insights ltd

Applying behavioural insights to

policy making: Health and

nutrition Michael Hallsworth


About the team


What are Behavioural Insights?

Behavioural Insights

Psychology

Anthropology

Economics

Public Policy

Understanding how people behave in practice so

that we can design policy better


Behavioural insights adds another dimension

Behavioural Insights

1. Regulation

2. Incentives

3. Information


Two different ways of applying behavioural

insights

High-level policy

(goals, rules, structures, funding, “terms of the debate”)

Opportunistic delivery

(timing, wording, design, friction costs, trial and error)

Incre

menta

l

change

“Ste

p c

hange”


High-level policy: Obesity

We need a new policy narrative for obesity.


Three statements about obesity

1. Consuming food is often a “mindless” response to our

environment.

2. The past thirty years have seen a massive increase in

the supply of calories and our exposure to these

calories.

3. Physical activity brings a variety of health benefits.

However, it is mainly an increase in calorie intake, not a

decline in physical activity levels, that has caused the

obesity problem. Increasing activity alone is unlikely to

be the solution.


Mindless eating: We eat what is in front of us

7,7

4,6 5,6

3,1

6,5

3,8

6,1

3,5

Close and Visible Close and not-visible

Far and visible Far and not visible

Actual Number of Sweets Consumed

Estimated Number of Sweets Consumed

Wansink, B., Painter, J. E., & Lee, Y. K. (2006). The office candy dish: proximity's influence on

estimated and actual consumption. International Journal of Obesity, 30(5), 871-875.

Food that is closer and more visible to us is more likely to be eaten.


Mindless eating: We underestimate the

calories in a “healthy” meal

870

1085 1170

779

Actual calories Perceived calories Actual calories Perceived calories

Adapted from Chandon, P. (2013). How package design and packaged-based marketing claims

lead to overeating. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 35(1), 7-31.

“Unhealthy” meal “Healthy” meal

+ 25% -33%


Portion sizes have increased greatly in the last 30 years.

Levitsky, D. A., & Pacanowski, C. R. (2011). Free will and the obesity epidemic. Public Health Nutrition, 15(1), 126

Calorie supply: Portion sizes


Some policy options

1. Portion size reduction

2. Reformulation

3. Substitution

4. Education

• I will not shop when I am

hungry

• I will fill half my plate with fruit

or vegetables

• I will eat meals from smaller

plates

• I will not store snacks at eye

level in my refrigerator or

cupboard

Supply of calories

Consumer choices


Test and adapt policies

Define the

outcome

Understand

the context

Build your

intervention

Test, learn,

adapt


Conclusion

• People tend to think they have more control over their eating than

they do.

• This leads to unsuccessful attempts to control eating based on

willpower.

• The psychology of eating suggests that portion size reduction and

food reformulation may be particularly effective.

• Education can be effective, but only if it reflects the habitual,

contextual, automatic nature of eating.

• We should test and iterate policy interventions, often in a low-cost

way – BIT can give examples of how to do this.


Michael Hallsworth [email protected]

Asian Food Regulation Information Service is a resource for the food industry. We have the largest database of Asian food regulations in the world – and it’s FREE to use. We publish a range of communication services (free and paid), list a very large number of food events and online educational webinars and continue to grow our Digital Library. Feel free to contact us anytime to talk about your specific requirements, offer comments, complaints or to compliment us.

We look forward to hearing from you soon!

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