Healthy food options lead to poor choices

Consumers may want to see healthier food items available but that does not mean they will choose them, U.S. researchers said.

Study authors Keith Wilcox of City University of New York, Beth Vallen of Loyola College, Lauren Block of City University of New York and Gavan J. Fitzsimons of Duke University said more restaurants and vending machines offer healthy choices, yet American waistlines continue to expand.

In a series of four studies, the researchers examined how consumers' food choices differed when a healthy item was included in a set compared to when it was not available.

The study, published in the Journal of Consumer Research, showed that the mere presence of a healthy item vicariously fulfills health-related eating goals, drives attention to the least-healthy choice and provides people with license to indulge in tempting foods.

The study also demonstrated that these effects were more pronounced in people with relatively high levels of self-control.

Given the choice of fries, chicken nuggets or a baked potato, people high in self-control rarely chose the fries -- considered the least-healthy option. However, add the salad and high self-control individuals were significantly more likely to choose the French fries, the researchers said.

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