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Is requiring posting calories of menu items going to help reduce obesity?
Replies
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I'm not out to make any big claims about this one way or another. I can see many sides to it.
BUT one thing I've noticed among my own friends/family is a LOT of younger people (teens and early 20s) making different choices just in the past few years since a lot more fast food/fast casual restaurants started posting calories. I know teenagers (male and female) who will never order a shake at Sonic because of the calories. Five or ten years ago, I guarantee most kids of that age did not know or care anything about that. I'm really inclined to believe it is making a difference sometimes. I am hearing some of these kids talking about calories in this vs. that, like "I'd much rather have six nuggets than a cherry pie if it's LESS calories". Maybe I'm biased because I was obese for 20 years and everything finally clicked for me with CICO, but I think it's a good thing.
I also think a lot of people in the 80s/90s really didn't understand how many calories & how much sugar were in regular cola/soda. I was among the uninformed and thought nothing of drinking 2 Dr. Peppers in a shift at my part-time job as a teen...but I wouldn't eat a Snickers bar because I thought that would be too much sugar and make me gain weight. I think people today of all ages have a slightly better handle on this stuff, due to its labeling. Of course a lot of people just don't care though, or don't have the first idea how many calories they actually need in a day. I know people who think 2,500 is necessary for all humans and I know people who think dieting for a 200 lb 30 year old woman should be around 600/day.10 -
marilynbeth2 wrote: »When I go to a restaurant and I'm choosing between options the highest calorie count will win. Calories are energy. I'm buying food to get energy. More calories; a better deal. Let's say, I'm looking at two sandwiches around the same price. The one with more calories is the one I will buy. I'll take half home and have a second meal out of it. That is the best bet for my diet and for my budget. It's better to have two meals for the price of one.
It depends on your goals. If you're trying to lose weight, you won't choose the higher calorie options.
Another difference between me and you is that I never buy two of anything at a restaurant. I get fast food as a stop gap option, expecting to get a real meal when I get home. So it's always very little, on the rare occasions I go.0 -
Not if you truly believe calories aren't the root cause of weight gain.2
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marilynbeth2 wrote: »When I go to a restaurant and I'm choosing between options the highest calorie count will win. Calories are energy. I'm buying food to get energy. More calories; a better deal. Let's say, I'm looking at two sandwiches around the same price. The one with more calories is the one I will buy. I'll take half home and have a second meal out of it. That is the best bet for my diet and for my budget. It's better to have two meals for the price of one.
My sister once dated a guy who analysed everything he ate on a calorie per dollar basis
The more calories per dollar the better. 3 -
marilynbeth2 wrote: »When I go to a restaurant and I'm choosing between options the highest calorie count will win. Calories are energy. I'm buying food to get energy. More calories; a better deal. Let's say, I'm looking at two sandwiches around the same price. The one with more calories is the one I will buy. I'll take half home and have a second meal out of it. That is the best bet for my diet and for my budget. It's better to have two meals for the price of one.
My sister once dated a guy who analysed everything he ate on a calorie per dollar basis The more calories per dollar the better.
A whole generation of "dirtbag" climbers lived by this principle. Would eat loads of butter & bread and similar high calorie cheap foods.0 -
marilynbeth2 wrote: »When I go to a restaurant and I'm choosing between options the highest calorie count will win. Calories are energy. I'm buying food to get energy. More calories; a better deal. Let's say, I'm looking at two sandwiches around the same price. The one with more calories is the one I will buy. I'll take half home and have a second meal out of it. That is the best bet for my diet and for my budget. It's better to have two meals for the price of one.
My sister once dated a guy who analysed everything he ate on a calorie per dollar basis The more calories per dollar the better.
I can't imagine why he's not your current brother-in-law!
4 -
I don't think so..I can only speak for myself but when I am not in the zone (trying to lose weight) I don't even care about calories. If I want a big mac and large fries, at that moment I could care less about how many calories I am eating.1
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I actually do adjust what I order by taking it into consideration. I like having it right there. But, I doubt it will work as a whole.1
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Only if people care about the number of calories they eat.
How many even understand how many they need, on average, to simply maintain?
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/12/who-looks-at-menu-labels/383320/2 -
So the answer to the title of this thread is NO?
I can see that if only the non obesity are reading the menu posted calorie info to make sure they do not become obese then the info is not likely to change obesity rates.
Thanks for sharing the article.0 -
tbright1965 wrote: »Only if people care about the number of calories they eat.
How many even understand how many they need, on average, to simply maintain?
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/12/who-looks-at-menu-labels/383320/
Present company excluded?
zippo.1 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »So the answer to the title of this thread is NO?
I can see that if only the non obesity are reading the menu posted calorie info to make sure they do not become obese then the info is not likely to change obesity rates.
Thanks for sharing the article.
If the information was good for keeping the non-obese from becoming obese, it would have an impact on obesity rates. The overall obese population would continue to die at the same rate they're dying today, yet there would be fewer people joining the ranks of the obese over time. This would result in an overall reduction.
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tbright1965 wrote: »Only if people care about the number of calories they eat.
How many even understand how many they need, on average, to simply maintain?
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/12/who-looks-at-menu-labels/383320/
Present company excluded?
zippo.
I doubt we reflect the majority of society.
Heck, not even everyone here believes calories matter. You have the occasional person who says counting calories isn't necessary, just eat _______, or do ________, you don't need to count, track, measure, etc.3 -
tbright1965 wrote: »tbright1965 wrote: »Only if people care about the number of calories they eat.
How many even understand how many they need, on average, to simply maintain?
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/12/who-looks-at-menu-labels/383320/
Present company excluded?
zippo.
I doubt we reflect the majority of society.
Heck, not even everyone here believes calories matter. You have the occasional person who says counting calories isn't necessary, just eat _______, or do ________, you don't need to count, track, measure, etc.
I think most everyone here knows that calories do matter. But that is not the same thing as knowing that it's possible to maintain a healthy weight without actually counting them.1 -
tbright1965 wrote: »tbright1965 wrote: »Only if people care about the number of calories they eat.
How many even understand how many they need, on average, to simply maintain?
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/12/who-looks-at-menu-labels/383320/
Present company excluded?
zippo.
I doubt we reflect the majority of society.
Heck, not even everyone here believes calories matter. You have the occasional person who says counting calories isn't necessary, just eat _______, or do ________, you don't need to count, track, measure, etc.
MFP has ~19M users
Not sure how many users are in the US. US population is ~360M
At it's highest potential this impacts 5% of the US population.3 -
tbright1965 wrote: »tbright1965 wrote: »Only if people care about the number of calories they eat.
How many even understand how many they need, on average, to simply maintain?
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/12/who-looks-at-menu-labels/383320/
Present company excluded?
zippo.
I doubt we reflect the majority of society.
Heck, not even everyone here believes calories matter. You have the occasional person who says counting calories isn't necessary, just eat _______, or do ________, you don't need to count, track, measure, etc.
MFP has ~19M users
Not sure how many users are in the US. US population is ~360M
At it's highest potential this impacts 5% of the US population.
And that's total users. How many are actually active, as in having posted in the last week, month or year?
Just guessing, probably 19 million have signed up. Maybe 1.9 million actually are active. Just a gut feeling, I have no numbers to back up my impression.4 -
tbright1965 wrote: »tbright1965 wrote: »Only if people care about the number of calories they eat.
How many even understand how many they need, on average, to simply maintain?
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/12/who-looks-at-menu-labels/383320/
Present company excluded?
zippo.
I doubt we reflect the majority of society.
Heck, not even everyone here believes calories matter. You have the occasional person who says counting calories isn't necessary, just eat _______, or do ________, you don't need to count, track, measure, etc.
I think most everyone here knows that calories do matter. But that is not the same thing as knowing that it's possible to maintain a healthy weight without actually counting them.
Other than Shouty Guy and the occasional member who has been deluded into thinking that something like a particular WOE overrides energy balance because of da insulin or da fasting.... I would agree with you.4 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »
Is giving people access to information a good thing? I'm not sure what the debate is, it's up to the individual to make use of that data.6 -
I dont think posting calories will do anything for obesity rates. That said places that list their calories are probably be more likely to get people who are counting calories as customers. Personally speaking when I was calorie counting I appreciated places that listed calories and was more likely to choose to eat there. But if they didn't list the calories I would have gotten to my goal just the same.
I don't think people who aren't tracking calories actually benefit. Sure...they may choose the lower calorie item at the restaurant...but they aren't tracking so they will probably just eat more at home.1 -
As someone who lives in a country that doesn't require calorie labeling, I would say it would certainly be beneficial to me when counting calories to have labeling at restaurants (we don't even appear to require labeling at supermarkets, as some packaged foods do not seem to have them, but most due because they are made for distribution throughout Latin America). As it is now, I have to do a lot of guessing game to estimate my calories, and that brings a larger margin of error.
I do not believe it will radically alter the way everyone eats, but I know for me, and I assume others watching calories, it helps better make informed choices. Often the foods that we think are healthy or unhealthy are often misidentified, at least when it comes to their caloric content. When I am in the US, I do usually use the calorie information to make a "better" choice.
I think it's important for people to have an idea of what they are consuming. If they choose not to make any positive change with it, that's on them. But they should at least be given the information.8
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