Health warnings on alcohol and snacks may reduce consumption

Health warning labels (HWLs) using images and text to depict the negative health consequences of smoking have been found to be effective and acceptable for changing smoking-related outcomes. However, evidence for the potential usefulness of HWLs for reducing the consumption of alcoholic drinks and energy-dense foods like chocolate bars or crisps, is limited.

A team of researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Bristol, UK conducted two online studies with separate participants, asking them to rate different image-and-text HWLs on alcoholic drinks (5,528 participants) or energy-dense snacks (4,618 participants).

Dr Gareth Hollands, the corresponding author said: 'To our knowledge, these are the first large-scale studies in general populations to examine the potential effectiveness and acceptability of image-and-text health warning labels on alcohol and on snack foods. Prior research in this area has typically either looked at these warning labels on sugary drinks, or used smaller or less representative samples.'