Science Says Labeling Calories Doesn’t Translate To Healthier Eating
The US Government thought they were taking a big swing at obesity by issuing new calorie labeling laws for the nation. They may be wrong.
By next May, any fast food chain with over 20 locations in the United States will be required to display calorie counts on their menus. While this helps you see how many calories you take in when you eat fast food, not everyone thinks that it will be helpful.
There’s now a study that agrees with that theory.
A study out of NYU suggests that displaying calorie counts does not lead to people making healthier choices when they eat fast food. The study surveyed 1,400 consumers in Philadelphia (a city where calorie labeling laws are already in effect), and found that only 8 percent of them would be expected to change their eating behavior.
This expectation comes from the model of a previous study that predicted changes in eating behavior based on labeling. For the behavior to change, consumers would not only need to see the labels, but also be motivated to eat healthier and understand how many calories they should be eating.
Photo: Huffington Post
In the study, two thirds of consumers didn’t see the calorie labels and a third questioned nutritional information by phone, indicating a clear lack of visibility for the calorie labels. Additionally, less than half knew how many calories they should be eating on a daily basis.
This lack of consumer knowledge and low visibility leads to overall ineffective labeling, meaning that labeling has to change to be more visible and to better inform consumers. At the very least, saying that dietary needs vary (despite the general benchmark of 2000 calories as a standard) or using new labeling methods (like scientifically successful traffic light labeling models for food products) to measure the nutritional quality of fast foods should be considered.
Until then, its expected that calorie labeling will continue to fall short and not lead to healthier choices — and ultimately, the obesity epidemic won’t be affected by the new labeling legislation.
