This skinny-minnie obviously shops from a list. Picture: Thinkstock. Source: News Limited
SOMETHING as simple as a shopping list leads to greater weight loss, according to a new study.
The study recently published in Nutrition and Diabetes, found people who prepare shopping lists before hitting the supermarket lost an additional 0.69kg a month.
The researchers at Monash University's Centre for Health Economics looked at whether precommitment strategies such as shopping to a grocery list would result in greater weight loss in people who are overweight or obese.
Lead researcher Dr Nicole Au and her team looked at strategies for weight loss from a relatively new discipline, behavioural economics.
Do not let the kids hijack the shopping trip. Picture: Thinkstock. Source: News Limited These strategies exploit people's behavioural tendencies and habits to nudge them towards decisions which are healthier and more in line with their long-term goals.
"Recent research suggests that novel strategies drawn from behavioural economics may prove to be much more effective than mainstream approaches (such as information
provision) to assist individuals in making healthier lifestyle choices," she said.
"And the good thing is some of these behavioural economic strategies can often be carried out at very low costs. Encouraging these strategies in the community could also be a cost-effective policy option for governments."
Dr Au said a predetermined grocery list committed shoppers to buy only the foods that were on that list thereby helping them avoid the temptations of unhealthy food purchases.
"When individuals worked with detailed meal plans and a grocery list to make the meals it could have a meaningful impact on weight loss and long-term health among overweight and obese individuals," she said.
"We found because the planning of meals and writing of the shopping list could be carried out relatively cheaply, it was a cost-effective weight-loss tool when compared to the alternative of 'doing nothing'."
Remove all temptation by having your groceries delivered. Hopefully by a spunk! Picture: Thinkstock.
The findings were encouraging because they suggest that something as simple as shopping to a predetermined grocery list is a cost-effective means for reducing obesity and improving quality of life.
"Of course, diet is just one side of the energy equation. I think there is great potential for behavioural economic strategies to improve physical activity as well as diet, and future work is needed to investigate whether such strategies are cost-effective," Dr Au said.
Many consumers know all too well that overeating and under-exercising will lead to weight gain and increased risk of chronic illness. However, in many cases impulsiveness or poor self-control leads people to behave in a manner that departs from their good intentions.
Nutrition Australia spokeswoman Aloysa Hourigan said preparing a shopping list is always a good idea.
"Shopping with a list means that you have engaged in some level of planning about your food choices for the time period before you next go grocery shopping - so that can be helpful in ensuring you will have available the foods that will enable you to prepare the meals you have planned. Hopefully these are healthy choices," she said.
This woman seems strangely pleased with her boring shopping list. Picture: Thinkstock. Source: News Limited
"It also means you are less likely to impulse buy especially if you have not included unhealthy food items on your shopping list - it is already a commitment about what you would like to see yourself eating over the next week or so.
"The precommitment and planning are important ways of ensuring you will have the food choices on hand to make healthy meals you are aiming for.
"It is reported that if you shop when you are hungry it is far more likely that you might swayed by the sweet, high-fat and higher-kilojoule temptations at the check-out or in the supermarket aisles."
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