The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges have called for fizzy drinks to be hit with a 20% tax with other measures in the fight against obesity. Warwick Business School and the Design Council have joined forces to create the first Behavioural Design Lab and tackle the problem with a different approach.
The lab looks to bring the power of design together with cutting edge scientific research that Warwick Business School’s burgeoning behavioural science group is discovering. Warwick Business School’s Ed Gardiner is the Behavioural Design Lead and believes the new lab can find the answer, saying: “The doctors’ report – and negative reaction from industry – highlights the need for new, practical approaches to tackling obesity that are rooted in a better understanding of behaviour. Taxation may have an effect but it is heavy handed and immediately isolates the organisations that need to be on side for anything to work. Fundamentally, we need new products or services that can guide and support people in making healthier decisions on their own accord, while maintaining the commercial benefit to suppliers.”
Behavioural science has helped the UK Government increase organ donations and with more research subtle interventions to make healthier food more convenient could do the same.
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