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Nesta is an innovation foundation. For us, innovation means turning bold ideas into reality and changing lives for the better. We use our expertise, skills and funding in areas where there are big challenges facing society.

The little-known impact of calorific snacks

Recent polling shows that UK adults significantly underestimate the number of calories in popular snacks, and most people don’t realise the link between the snacks we consume and changes in our weight over time.

For the average UK adult, eating 240 more calories per day over the course of a year –⁠ equivalent to a large ‘grab bag’ of crisps –⁠ would lead to weight gain of around a stone (6.35kg). However, three quarters (74.7%) of us underestimate the impact of such small daily changes, with nearly 1 in 10 (9.6%) believing that they would lead to no weight change at all.

Polling showed that the UK population is aware of calorie content when it comes to meals and drinks. In some cases, participants overestimated calories in popular fast food – nearly half (46%) of respondents overestimated the calories in a Big Mac with medium fries, with an average guess of 1,000 calories compared to the true value of 870.

But participants were less clear on snacks. For example, 75% of respondents underestimated the calories in a sausage roll, with an average guess of 228 calories. And 95% of respondents underestimated the calories in half a sharing bag of tortilla chips. The average guess was 214 calories, less than half the true value of 447 calories.

“We seem to have a blind spot when it comes to snacking,” says Hugo Harper, Director of our Healthy Life mission. “In reality, a big bag of tortilla chips has more calories than a Big Mac and fries, but we think it has fewer than half. With snacks making up a significant portion of the British diet, they present a massive opportunity to improve the nation’s health”.

Despite the population’s tendency to underestimate the snacks in calories, pre-pandemic data shows that they take up a significant portion of our daily intake. Snacks make up a fifth of all calories we eat at home – around 370 calories per day. And this figure doesn’t include snacks consumed outside the home, so the true figure is likely to be closer to 500 calories per day, where our food environments come more into play.

The UK population has been gaining weight for decades. But research shows that widespread obesity is linked to our food environments: the foods in our vicinity that are available, accessible and affordable to us.

To help people to live healthier lives, changes need to be made to our food environments so consumers are not nudged towards purchasing unhealthy snacks. By eating fewer snacks, many UK adults could avoid significant weight gain.

“Small changes to our eating habits, if sustained, can make a profound difference,” explains Hugo. “Our environment has a real impact on what we eat, from adverts and supermarket promotions to what’s available in our local corner shop. When we walk into a shop, snack foods are often promoted, discounted and prominently displayed to push us towards buying them on top of what we actually went in for.

If we had fewer cues to snack, or were pushed to buy fewer high calorie snacks, we should be able to see real change. Rather than putting the burden on consumers, our food environments need to change so it’s easier for us to eat more healthily. Fad diets and personal calorie counting aren’t the answer, as they tend to lead to short-term weight changes and can be bad for our mental health.

The soft drinks levy was successful at nudging manufacturers to reformulate their products with less sugar. The upcoming restrictions on supermarket promotions are a welcome step, and we may see some manufacturers making popular snacks healthier in response to the legislation.”

As part of our healthy life mission, we’re looking at ways to help more people lead healthier lives by addressing food environments and making healthy eating easier for everyone.

We’re always looking for interested food manufacturers, retailers, charities and local authorities to test and scale ways to make it easier for people to eat more healthily. If you have any thoughts or questions, or would like to work with us, please get in touch with [email protected].