The marketing ploy ‘upselling’ is fuelling the obesity crisis in the UK, health experts warn, saying by businesses are pushing unhealthy food and larger portions on to shoppers. The most common upsells taken by the public included larger coffees, bigger meals, sweets and chocolates and extra sides such as onion rings and chips.
Royal Society for Public Health chief executive Shirley Cramer told the BBC the industry was pressuring the public into buying extra calories, which then added up ‘without us noticing’.
She said businesses needed to stop training staff to upsell high-calorie food and instead focus on healthy alternatives adding that tactic involves shops, cafes and restaurants encouraging customers to upgrade to larger meals and drinks or adding high-calorie toppings and sides.
She said the findings were drawn from a poll of more than 2,000 UK adults by the RSPH and Slimming World.
Those who had experienced upsells had been targeted more than twice a week on average, with younger people the most susceptible. The most common place for it to happen was restaurants, followed by fast-food outlets, supermarkets, coffee shops and pubs and bars.
The research showed many of the upsells were unhealthy options, with the average person who fell victim to the technique consuming an average of 17,000 extra calories a year, enough to gain an extra 5lbs over 12 months.
Weight gain through unhealthy or ‘unconscious’ eating can be controlled through clinical hypnotherapy and managing weight loss is one of the most effective results of hypnotherapy, says the National Council for Hypnotherapy – the largest professional body for hypnotherapy in the UK with more than 1,800 members.
“Rather than just reducing calories that you are likely to put on again in the longer term, hypnotherapy gets you in touch with the reasons why you unconsciously eat,” says the NCH. “If you are the type of person that struggles to stop after a small piece of chocolate and feels compelled to finish the packet then a hypnotherapist can help you understand why and help you create new healthy self-management techniques.”
The national body adds: “When you see a hypnotherapist for weight loss they will ask you lots of questions about when you eat, what you eat, what triggers you to reach for food when you are not hungry.”
The therapist then will draw up a programme of treatment that will provide motivation top eat less and even exercise more.
“Hypnotherapy for weight loss is about changing your habit with food for the rest of your life, so unlike crash diets it changes the root of your compulsive eating or lack of interest in exercise so you are free to enjoy the rest of your life – eating and exercising sensibly without having to think about it.”
Hypnotherapy has been proven to help people reduce portion sizes so they can lose weight healthily, steadily and for the long term.
“Losing weight with hypnosis is essentially about teaching you to feel good about yourself, whatever size you are. It focuses on making healthy changes to your diet and lifestyle that will remain with you for the rest of your life.”