Americans buy more food, in terms of calories, after the year-end holidays than during the holiday season, often maligned as a period of over-indulgence, says a study in PLOS ONE, according to Feedstuffs. It says people spend more on food during the holidays, partly for luxuries. But their shopping carts typically show a 9 percent increase in calories after the start of the new year. The lead researcher on the Cornell study, Lizzy Pope, says people start the year with intentions to diet or to eat healthier foods. “They do pick out more healthy items but they also keep buying higher levels of less-healthy holiday favorites,” Pope says in Feedstuffs. The research team said the results suggest that people need better strategies to avoid junk food, such as a written grocery lists or making two piles of food in the shopping cart and ensuring that nutritious foods fill at least half of the cart.