Calorie Labeling Not Curbing Obesity
The city of New York’s health department has announced that the nationwide calorie-labeling initiative is not as effective in curbing the nation’s obesity crisis as the government hopes it will be. In fact, the program may even be futile.
The health department compared data of 10 965 purchases in 13 restaurants in 275 areas in the spring of 2007 with that of 12 153 purchases in the same restaurants in the spring of 2009. Little changed in the number of calories that were actually consumed in the restaurants, even though the calorie information was made visible. What’s worrying is that only 56% of the restaurant patrons said they actually noticed the information, and even more alarming is that only 15% said they took the information into account when placing their orders.
The findings of this latest study were presented by Dr Lynn Silver, the assistant commissioner for the New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, at an Obesity Society meeting in Washington. Although the calorie-labeling project didn’t show much change at chain restaurants, a difference could be seen at coffee shops: the number of calories ordered decreased by 10%.
Celeb Diet Doc..
Personally I don’t see why calorie labeling would work at restaurants. The overwhelming majority of food is highly processed and full of calories so there aren’t many smart choices available anyway. It would be like choosing between low tar and standard cigarettes. A better idea is just post a surgeon general warning on every fast food joint “SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Quitting Junk Food Now Greatly Reduces Serious Risks to Your Health.
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