Before the first of May, the only stoplights the Mercer family paid attention to were on the roadway.

Now, they think about stoplights in the kitchen.

The Mercers are participating in a research program at Kansas University that uses the Stoplight Diet concept showing varying degrees of nutrition for food. It’s a concept being considered by the United Kingdom for food packaging.

“I think parents are wanting help deciding what to feed their kids,” Jack Mercer said. “We thought some things were healthy that weren’t healthy for us. Having it on the label would be nice.”

The Stoplight Diet is part of the Positively Fit program at KU. Participant families attend 10 weeks of instruction on healthy living, including both diet and exercise.

Under the system, foods fall under one of three stoplight categories:

• “Green” foods, which include most fruits and vegetables, can be eaten at liberty.
• “Yellow” foods are typically used for meals but aren’t snack foods. They include lean meats, milk and pasta.


Susan and Jack Mercer, along with their children Chloe, 13, and Jackson, 10, have started using the Stoplight Diet to plan daily meals. The system places values on different types of foods -- good to bad, green to red. The family cut up fruits and vegetables Wednesday in their kitchen.

• “Red” foods are those that should be eaten sparingly and have more than 13 grams of sugar or 7 grams of fat per serving. Those include obvious foods such as ice cream, cookies and candy, but also include canned fruits packaged in syrup, sports drinks and some yogurts.

The diet was developed by Leonard Epstein of the State University of New York at Buffalo 25 years ago.

“It hasn’t caught on the way other diets have,” said Ric Steele, the KU assistant professor who conducts the research. “The thing I love about this is it’s more sustainable than other fad diets.”

He said research has shown the concept of the food stoplight, in addition to being consistent with the National Institutes of Health-endorsed food pyramid, is an easy concept that can be grasped by children and remain with them throughout their lives.

“It’s kid-friendly,” Steele said. “They get it.”

A Parliament committee is considering whether to adopt the stoplight for national food-packaging standards. Steele said he thinks the concept could work in the United States as well, if combined with current label requirements.

“This would be a lot of help to families,” he said. “It takes a lot of guesswork out and gets rid of a lot of the marketing. It seems society is ready for something like that.”

Steele said a handful of research groups incorporate the stoplight concept into their research.

It’s a system that is working well for the Mercers. Jack Mercer, his wife, Susan, and their children Jackson, 10, and Chloe, 13, will complete the 10-week program Wednesday.

In addition to doing more physical activity together as a family, the Mercers have fewer sweets in the house.

“We were just eating unhealthily,” Jackson said. “It’s going to be a huge change but I don’t miss (junk food).”