The Behaviour and Health Research Unit contributes evidence to national and international efforts to achieve sustained behaviour change to improve health outcomes and reduce health inequalities.The main focus of our work is on developing effective ways of changing three sets of behaviour – smoking, and excessive consumption of food and alcohol. Changing these behaviours positively would help to prevent the majority of the preventable non-communicable diseases, including many cancers, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. From 2010-2019, our main programme of research was funded by NIHR. In 2018 we received a Collaborative Award in Science from Wellcome for a new programme of research ‘Behaviour Change by Design’.

Does altering the availability or proximity of food, alcohol and tobacco products change their selection and consumption?

Changing our food environments, by making certain foods less available or less convenient to access, may be one way of reducing how much we select, purchase or eat. Until now, the possible impact of such changes has not been known.

We conducted a Cochrane Review to assess whether altering the availability (the range of options) or proximity (the distance at which they are positioned) of food products changes how much they are selected (such as purchased) or consumed. We searched for all available evidence from randomised controlled trials, and found 24 studies, including more than 3000 participants, all on food.

This review provides the most conclusive evidence to date that people select less of a type or range of food when there are fewer different options of that food available to choose from. For example, people select fewer unhealthy products from vending machines or in cafeterias when there are fewer unhealthy options available. The results are less clear on how this affects the amount of food that is actually consumed. This review also provides the most conclusive evidence to date that people consistently consume less of a food when it is placed further away than when it is nearer to them, although effects on selection are very unclear.

To read the findings of the study in full, click here.

Hollands, G.J., Carter, P., Anwer, S., King, S.E., Jebb, S.A., Ogilvie, D., Shemilt, I., Higgins, J.P.T., Marteau, T.M. (2019). Altering the availability or proximity of food, alcohol and tobacco products to change their selection and consumption. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews; 8:CD012573.

Public acceptability of nudging and taxing to reduce consumption of alcohol, tobacco, and food

Smoking, and excessive consumption of alcohol and unhealthy snacks are leading causes of years of life lost globally. Promising interventions include nudging – changes to the physical environment to “nudge” people toward healthier behaviours – and taxation. Implementing such interventions often requires government intervention, which is made more likely by public support. We examined support for these interventions in a survey with an experimental design involving 7058 English adults.

Overall 60% supported these policies with support varying by policy and behaviour. Putting graphic warning labels on products received strongest support (from 78%), followed by reducing product size (59%), then taxing the product (57%), and finally reducing the availability of the product (47%).

To read the findings of the study in full, click here.

Reynolds, J. P., Archer, S., Pilling, M., Kenny, M., Hollands, G. J., & Marteau, T. M. (2019). Public acceptability of nudging and taxing to reduce consumption of alcohol, tobacco, and food: A population-based survey experiment.

Does reducing unhealthier options or increasing healthier options increase healthier selections from vending machines?

Does reducing unhealthier options or increasing healthier options increase healthier selections from vending machines?

In a novel study we compared the impact of increasing and decreasing the number of slots containing healthier and less-healthy options in vending machines in one English hospital. We were interested in the impact on snacks and cold drinks selected.

Reducing the proportion of less healthy cold drinks from 25% to 5% of slots halved the energy purchased from drinks, suggesting this is a promising strategy for encouraging healthier drink selections.

Read the findings of the study in full here

Do larger glasses increase sales of wine in bars and restaurants?

This replication paper published in BMC Research Notes, adds to previous studies (Pechey et al 2016; Pechey et al 2017) that show an effect of glass size on sales, in bar and restaurant settings in Cambridge, England. The current paper outlines four studies, in two bars and one restaurant. In each study, the establishment served wine in small (290ml), medium (350ml) or large glasses (450ml), and this was changed over fortnightly periods for a period of 18 or 26 weeks.

Wine glass size and wine sales: four replication studies in one restaurant and two bars. Clarke N, Pechey R, Pilling M, Hollands GJ, Mantzari E, & Marteau TM.

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