Three considerations to make healthy choices easier
Our survey of 1,500 Americans shows that intuition and convenience often guide decisions about healthy eating. A confusing, sometimes conflicting information environment means that, despite prioritizing healthy eating, people may struggle to make healthy food choices.
More information alone likely won’t make people healthier, but making the healthy choice the easy choice can. Based on the survey results, we have identified three key considerations that can help Americans make healthier choices.
1. Clear and accessible nutrition labels could make nutrition information more widely understandable and usable. A majority of respondents felt that standardized markers for ultra-processed foods, an overall healthiness score, and healthiness scores tied to major chronic conditions would be helpful. Increasing the clarity and visibility of ultra-processed foods—by providing clear definitions and ultra-processed food-specific labeling on packaging—may help build public understanding.
Developing a widely accepted scientific standard for nutrition choices, especially for those with chronic conditions, may pave the way for providers to further incorporate nutrition information and guidance into traditional models of care. A shared, evidence-based framework for nutrition-related treatments, endorsed by government, scientists, and health care professionals, may also help insurers consider whether to cover such treatments in their plans.
Updating labels would involve coordination across the ecosystem, with government, retailers, food manufacturers, and others, to standardize “at-a-glance” signals at the point of purchase. Some grocery retailers have already implemented overall markers for healthiness to help shoppers make informed choices both in-store and online.18 One model uses a single score from 1 to 100 to signify the healthfulness of a food based on factors like nutrient density, while another store uses a star-ranking system to help customers distinguish overall item healthfulness.19
2. An ecosystem-driven, interoperable nutrition information hub could help Americans navigate conflicting messages and improve their eating habits. Our survey finds that respondents often feel confused by nutrition information and want clear labels and access to deeper resources to resolve conflicting information. A centralized hub, developed as a collaboration among federal agencies, nutrition scientists, retailers, and technology developers, could address these concerns by combining point-of-purchase guidance, scientific context, habit-building support, and personalized recommendations based on health needs, affordability, taste preferences, and demystified science.
Rather than replacing today’s tools, a centralized hub could establish common rails—data standards, labeling rules, and interoperability requirements—that private-sector innovators could build on. Recent advances in technology could make this vision for improving healthy eating across America more attainable.
To drive efficiency, the hub could build on existing efforts to advance AI-driven, interoperable medical records. By connecting with systems where people already receive care, a nutrition information hub could offer clinicians and patients alike nutrition data at the point of care. Within this platform, an AI-powered chatbot could also give Americans access to nutrition research from literature databases like PubMed in a digestible and easy-to-use format.
3. Well-crafted social marketing campaigns can shift behaviors, even among those with deeply entrenched unhealthy eating habits. Information alone has limited power to change eating habits;20 factors such as identity, emotions, social norms, and confidence in maintaining new behaviors can all influence food decisions.21 For this reason, social marketing campaigns can serve as a powerful complement to other efforts, helping achieve lasting dietary change by reshaping how people view food choices and everyday eating habits.
Healthy eating is important for reducing the overall chronic disease burden,22 yet many Americans struggle to meet recommended dietary guidelines. Evidence from past public health campaigns demonstrates the return on investment when campaigns are well designed and sustained over time. For example, the Truth Initiative’s “Know the truth, spread the truth” campaign featured real teens with opioid use disorders and emphasized that opioid dependence can happen in as little as five days.23 The campaign led to a 27% drop in the number of teens willing to share prescription opioids and a 600% increase in searches for the term “opioid epidemic.”24 Similarly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “Tips from Former Smokers” campaign, which employed real stories of smoking-related harm from former smokers, has been associated with an estimated 16.4 million quit attempts and over one million sustained quits.25
These examples underscore the opportunity for modern nutrition campaigns to make a measurable impact. Leaders can consider reaching Americans where they most often seek information—across media and online environments, through health and science professionals, and within their communities (figure 6). Campaigns can also be delivered through libraries and local and state government resources, where our survey indicates respondents actively seek information at least twice as often as they encounter it by chance. By crafting campaigns that are entertaining, empowering, and relatable, modern nutrition campaigns could break through a crowded information environment, reinforce healthier dietary choices, and help shift everyday eating habits.
