Nudging or 'choice architecture' refers to strategic changes in the environment that are anticipated to alter people's behaviour in a predictable way, without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives. Nudging strategies may be used to promote healthy eating behaviour. However, to date, the scientific evidence has not been systematically reviewed to enable practitioners and policymakers to implement, or argue for the implementation of, specific measures to support nudging strategies. This systematic review investigated the effect of positional changes of food placement on food choice. In total, seven scientific databases were searched using relevant keywords to identify interventions that manipulated food position (proximity or order) to generate a change in food selection, sales or consumption, among normal-weight or overweight individuals across any age group. From 2576 identified articles, fifteen articles comprising eighteen studies met our inclusion criteria. This review has identified that manipulation of food product order or proximity can influence food choice. Such approaches offer promise in terms of impacting on consumer behaviour. However, there is a need for high-quality studies that quantify the magnitude of positional effects on food choice in conjunction with measuring the impact on food intake, particularly in the longer term. Future studies should use outcome measures such as change in grams of food consumed or energy intake to quantify the impact on dietary intake and potential impacts on nutrition-related health. Research is also needed to evaluate potential compensatory behaviours secondary to such interventions.

The CBIS provides a good measure of body size perception in girls and an adequate measure in boys aged 8 years and older. It also provides a good measure of body size dissatisfaction in children. Internalization of a thin body ideal takes place at a young age, many children desiring a BMI below the average norm.

Objective To compare the effectiveness of four commercial weight loss diets available to adults in the United Kingdom. Design Six month multicentre randomised unblinded controlled trial. Setting Community based sample of otherwise healthy overweight and obese adults. Interventions Dr Atkins' new diet revolution, Slim-Fast plan, Weight Watchers pure points programme, and Rosemary Conley's eat yourself slim diet and fitness plan. Main outcome measures Weight and body fat changes over six months. Results All diets resulted in significant loss of body fat and weight over six months. Groups did not differ significantly but loss of body fat and weight was greater in all groups compared with the control group. In an intention to treat analysis, average weight loss was 5.9 kg and average fat loss was 4.4 kg over six months. The Atkins diet resulted in significantly higher weight loss during the first four weeks, but by the end was no more or less effective than the other diets. Conclusions Clinically useful weight loss and fat loss can be achieved in adults who are motivated to follow commercial diets for a substantial period. Given the limited resources for weight management in the NHS, healthcare practitioners should discuss with their patients programmes known to be effective. Trial registration Clinical trials NCT00327821.

In this review, we discuss the role of inactivity and exercise on appetite regulation, both in the short and long term, and the potential mechanisms involved. A better short-term appetite control has been described in active compared to sedentary men, and an exercise intervention was shown to improve appetite control in previously sedentary individuals. The mechanisms whereby exercise improves short-term appetite control remain obscure and although the changes in the postprandial release of satiety peptides are attractive hypotheses, it remains unproven. The impact of exercise on habitual food intake is also controversial and likely to be dependent on restraint level and body weight. We hypothesize that the beneficial impact of exercise on appetite regulation can contribute to its well-established efficacy in the prevention of weight regain in obese individuals. However, more studies are needed in the obese population to clearly establish the role of exercise on appetite control in this group.

Hypertension is a public health priority in developed countries and worldwide, and is strongly associated with increased risk and progression of cardiovascular and renal diseases. A systematic review and metaanalysis were conducted to examine the association between dairy food intake during adulthood and the development of elevated blood pressure (EBP), specifically comparing the association of EBP with consumption of low-fat dairy foods versus high-fat dairy foods, as well as cheese versus fluid dairy foods (milk or yogurt). Seven databases were searched and five cohort studies selected for inclusion, involving nearly 45 000 subjects and 11 500 cases of EBP. Meta-analysis of consumption of dairy foods and EBP in adults gave a relative risk (RR) of 0.87 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.81-0.94). Separation of high-and low-fat dairy foods, however, indicated a significant association with lowfat dairy foods only (RR of 0.84 (95% CI 0.74-0.95)). Additional analyses showed no association between EBP and cheese, although fluid dairy foods were significantly associated with a reduced development in EBP (RR of 0.92 (95% CI 0.87-0.98)). Little heterogeneity was observed among the data presented. This metaanalysis supports the inverse association between lowfat dairy foods and fluid dairy foods and risk of EBP. Understanding these relationships can aid in the development of public health messages involving dairy foods, and supports current recommendations.