Fitness: Health Replacement Snacks May Cause You To Eat More, Study Suggests

The point of a health bar is to replace a meal and/or boost energy levels before or after a workout. However, new findings published in the Journal of Marketing Research reveal that some nutrition supplements may actually make individuals want to eat more, increasing the risk of weight gain instead of promoting weight loss or muscle growth.

Researchers at Technische Universität München and Pennsylvania State University examined the packaging on Clif Bars and Wheaties. They actually found that information on the products suggest that consumers should eat more of their product but exercise less, in turn, which can undermine certain health aspects and potentially increase the risk of weight gain.

"Unless a food was forbidden by their diet, branding the product as 'fit' increased consumption for those trying to watch their weight," wrote researchers Joerg Koenigstorfer of Technische Universität München and Hans Baumgartner of Pennsylvania State University, in a news release. "To make matters worse, these eaters also reduced their physical activity, apparently seeing the 'fit' food as a substitute for exercise."

During the study, researchers gave participants trail-mix style snacks marketed as either "Fitness" or "Trail Mix." To make the "Fitness" snack appear even healthier, a picture of running shoes was added to the packaging.

The volunteers were told to pretend that they were at home helping themselves to an afternoon snack and given roughly eight minutes to taste and rate their product. Another phase of the study gave them the option to exercise as vigorously as they liked on a stationary bicycle after eating the snack.

Findings revealed that for those specifically trying to watch their weight, the effect of labeling actually resulted in them eating far more of the fitness-branded snack. The same individuals eating the "Fitness" brand also chose to expend less energy during the exercise phase.

"It is important that more emphasis be placed on monitoring fitness cues in marketing. For example, a brand could offer gym vouchers or exercise tips instead of just implying fitness via a label or image. Reminding the consumer that exercise is still necessary may help counteract the negative effect of these fitness-branded foods," researchers concluded.

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