The UK government has been encouraging women to don their ladies fitness wear and lead healthier lifestyles through its Change4Life campaign but, in the US, a tax on unhealthy foods has been proposed in order to encourage bettereating habits.

Psychological scientist Leonard Epstein, from the University of Buffalo, has studied the persuasiveness of such so-called "sin taxes".

Mr Epstein and his colleagues created a pretend a grocery store in a laboratory, which included images of both unhealthy and healthy foods, all priced the same as at a real supermarket nearby.

A group of participants in the study were given money to shop for, or select, a week's worth of food for the family.

The prices of the unhealthy foods were increased first by 12.5 per cent, and then by 25 per cent, or the prices of the healthy foods were reduced by the same amounts.

The results, published recently in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, showed that taxes were more effective in improving food choices than subsides were.

According to the NHS, the best ways to prevent obesity are eating a diet that is low in fat, salt and sugar and taking part in regular exercise, which could include going for jogs in ladies running clothing.

Posted by Sue Wallis ADNFCR-2569-ID-19638244-ADNFCR

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