We can't resist Junk food, even when our health depends on it

In the News—We can’t Resist Junk Food, even When our Health depends on it

Are you a junk-food eater?  What’s your favorite?  Sometimes I want salty chips.  Other times I crave sweets.  My favorite treats are Cheetos (I remember my mother buying cheese puffs) and malted milk balls.   And I think that life would be pretty boring without occasional junk food.  However, we must like our junk food too much.  A study about Americans’ love for salty, sweet and fat snacks was published in the American Marketing Association’s Journal of Marketing.  The study found that in American households, when one person is diagnosed with diabetes, we change our eating habits.  We eat less sugar and switch to diet drinks—but we eat more fatty and salty foods in our efforts to be satisfied.  

Then the researchers looked at American households for their income levels, higher levels of education and interest in nutrition. The highly educated households and those who were interested in nutrition responded as the rest of the households.   The households who made healthier changes were households with younger people (especially if the person recently diagnosed with diabetes was a female), and those with the higher income levels.  More information can be found at http://health.yahoo.net/articles/diabetes/we-cant-resist-junk-food-even-when-our-health-depends-it

The Marketing magazine information can be found at http://www.journals.marketingpower.com/doi/abs/10.1509/jm.11.0443