London - Would you still drink that bottle of Coca-Cola if you knew it would take a four-mile (6.4km) run to burn off the calories?
Scientists think not and insist putting calorific information on food and drink is meaningless to most people.
Instead, they reckon exercise data needs to be printed on packaging to work effectively. A 500ml bottle of Coke, for example, contains 210 calories, more than a 10th of the daily recommended intake for a woman.
But scientists think that statistic is ignored by most and telling people it would take a 4.2 mile run, or 42-minute walk, to burn off the calories is far more effective.
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore found teenagers given the information chose healthier or smaller drinks.
And scientists from the University of North Carolina have called for the same approach on fast food restaurant menus.
They say that if a menu tells you a double cheeseburger will take a 5.6-mile hike before the calories are burned off, most would rather choose a smaller hamburger which would require a walk of 2.6 miles.
The findings, published in the American Journal of Public Health, adds to growing evidence that calorific information is ignored by most people.
Professor Sara Bleich said: “When you explain calories in an easily understandable way you can encourage behaviour change.” - Daily Mail