Experts Say Gov’t-Mandated Calorie Counts Don’t Change Eating Habits
- Posted on July 7, 2011 at 6:42pm by
Billy Hallowell
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Around the nation, various cities and counties have implemented regulations that require restaurants to post calories on all of their meals. The idea behind these regulatory changes? Customers, after seeing the caloric ramifications of their eating habits, will allegedly refrain from gorging themselves with unhealthy food and will opt for more nutritious options. Unfortunately, experts report that this simply isn’t happening. The Washington Post has more:
Evidence is mounting that calorie labels — promoted by some nutritionists and the restaurant industry to help stem the obesity crisis — do not steer most people to lower-calorie foods. Eating habits rarely change, according to several studies. Perversely, some diners see the labels yet consume more calories than usual. People who use the labels often don’t need to. (Meaning: They are thin.)
These revelations are emerging as national food companies are preparing to cope with federal regulations that will create a nationalized labeling system for American chain restaurants next year (part of President Obama’s health care initiative).
According to the Post, although some restaurants have already begun making menu changes to accommodate more healthy options, Americans aren’t changing their eating habits. Thus, questions about the labeling are beginning to emerge:
“There is a great concern among many of the people who study calorie labeling that the policy has moved way beyond the science and that it would be beneficial to slow down,” said George Loewenstein, a behavioral economist at Carnegie Mellon University who studies calorie labeling.
In February 2011, New York University launched a study into New York City’s mandated calorie postings. In their exploration, which focused upon low-income communities, researchers inevitably “…did not find a change in the number of calories purchased at fast-food restaurants after labeling went into effect.” The study contends:
In much the same way that adults responded in the few studies that have been conducted regarding this issue to date, the eating habits of children and teens in this study, a group of racial and ethnic minorities from low income areas, were barely influenced by the presence of calorie labeling. Easy access and the convenience of restaurant locations were the greatest drivers for teens and then taste influenced where they chose to eat.
Interestingly, experts believe that for most individuals the issue isn’t about a lack of access to nutritional information; it’s about self-control. Fast food is cheap and it satisfies peoples’ needs fairly quickly. These two elements seem to add insult to injury.
The idea that Americans would simply curb their eating habits in light of caloric information has, according to experts and associated research, not been a viable theory. But, will policy begin to reflect expert opinion or will potentially-debunked ideologies govern the debate moving forward?
Yesterday, The Blaze also covered a related debate over new regulations to monitor food companies’ advertising to children.
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Comments (88)
nptden
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 8:11pmJust an example of the Lib-tards obsession with CONTROL. They must tell people what to do. It is in their genetic make-up which is commonly called COMMUNISM.
Report Post »Ron_WA
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 7:57pmDuh. Gtet the buig Govt. Happy A$$ out of me Happy Meal
Report Post »UpstateNYConservative
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 7:55pmDuh!
I’m a fiend for cheeseburgers, with bacon. And bacon, and cheeseburgers, and pulled pork, and any meat I can sink my teeth into.
Funny–all these ‘health’ nuts and anti-tobacco Nazis are all for legalizing pot and love needle-exchange programs for hard-core addicts. Yet, those same buttnuts crab about Rush and Glenn who cleaned up their lives and have reached success.
There is, really, no low beneath where a liberal will not sink.
Report Post »woemcat
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 7:43pmActually, I do read the labels. No, I’m not in favour of FORCED government anything. However, I do appreciate it when restaurants VOLUNTARILY provide nutritional information as I have special dietary needs. Sometimes there are things hidden in foods that may be healthy to some, but are dangerous for me. So, I’m appreciative. However, I want it to be a voluntary thing out of public awareness and consumer relations, NOT governmental requirements.
Report Post »Bruce_Almty
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 7:06amAll restaurants “voluntarily” provide nutritional information these days—If they didn‘t the gov’t would shut them down.
Report Post »Grasp
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 10:06amI like having access to accurate nutritional information. As someone who shed 100 pounds, it was useful. Government mandate? Not crazy about that, ever.
If this was something a consumer awareness company did, that would still allow me to make better informed choices, I would be a subscriber.
Report Post »likwidlizard
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 7:42pmI’ll eat what I want, when i want and I decide how much. If Meat-Shell the first lady WITCH DOCTOR doesn’t like it, she can lick clean my fat lazy obese brother’s skid marks out of his shorts. Now, i’m going to go eat a SUPER-SIZE bowl of FRITO PIE with chili / onions / lotsa cheese / jalopenos and a quart of chocolate malted milk shake. Buuuuuurrrrrrp!
Report Post »gman4691
Posted on July 9, 2011 at 5:29pmI hear you. Hey, try using the crunchy Cheetos instead of Fritos…it’s excellent…Cheetos Pie!
Report Post »Midwest Blonde
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 7:29pmI’ve started reading labels recently do to an recurring and unexpected diagestive problem. What I‘ve discovered is that I can’t tolerate any soy bean product. Not soy oil, not soy protein, nothing soy.
DO you realize how much soy is in our foods?
Likewise my daughter is careful about reading labels. She is deathly allergic to walnuts and a couple of other nuts. Even to the point of walnut products (including oil from the nut) applied to her skin is severe. She started reading labels after getting a face care product that advertized “apricot”. Turns out the “scrub” part of the product was ground walnut material (shells and nuts).
Labeling is also not complete in some ways. “Natural flavoring” includes MSG. Did you know that? I didn’t. Don’t want MSG in your diet? Don’t eat prepared foods then. It’s also in most salad dressings.
Report Post »LBW23
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 9:22pmI realize how much soy is in our foods. Soy is my friend since I am allergic to milk (not intolerant, but can’t breath allergic). The government really needs to back off, because we need to have the choices. Most of the foods you can eat, I can’t. Most of the foods I can eat, you can’t. The more the government gets involved, the more our choices will begin to dwindle down.
Report Post »Louie Louie the Progressive
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 7:26pmHell it don`t matter until you have a Triple -By- Pass…………………then watch the pounds come off
Report Post »Midwest Blonde
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 7:19pmMy only comment…. “NO KIDDING!?!”
Report Post »dontbotherme
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 7:19pmI have to read labels due to medical problems. But, I will eat what I want, when I want it & how I want, just like the Obamas.
Report Post »Dougral Supports Israel
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 7:14pmI will try to avoid reading the calorie counts before ordering, especially if I am going out for a treat. I eat what I eat because I like it, not because I am looking for the most eco-friendly and health-conscious sustenance. Our government is becoming the biggest kill-joy and party pooper on the planet.
Report Post »psst
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 7:13pmI think US will soon be having “Dear Leader” syndrome in this country.
Report Post »Soetoro’s pics will be posted ALL over ameriKa, like Sodom had in Eyerock The Chairman in China, Assad in Syria, Dung Ill of N. Korea. We’ve seen them in the news. These 75×75 or larger pics posted all over the countries of these dicKtator.Didn’t I hear something about someone calling Soetoro a phDick?
NooYawk city may have 25‘x25’ of mayor Broomberg.Cal will have same of guv Moonbeam. Though Soetoro will overshadow them w/ his 75‘x75’ pics
Pluck the Goose’s feathers one at a time. The Goose won’t even notice. Before long, it’s a bald Goose ready to be cooked. Won‘t even know it’s being cooked when it’s thrown in the pot.That’s US.
Cheers. Drink up. Stay drunk. Ya won’t feel a thing ,even when you hear Soetoro“ axe”one of the comrades if they want a leg, wing or breast.
Soetoro himself will have the neck. This is the part that appeals to Moslems. Hold still ya drunken fool er Goose… Whack.
50BMG
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 7:10pmOh no! What will we do?! This is civil disobedience, and we can’t allow it!
Get ready for the next phase, which will be the government banning certain foods. If they can ban McDonald’s Happy Meals and get away with that intrusion, they’ll be emboldened to ban Big Macs next.
Report Post »Restored One
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 7:07pmI have a friend who recently found out that her 11 year old daughter has diabetes (not an overweight child at all) the availability of this information has helped her a great deal when they go out. So for purposes such as this I think it is a good idea.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 7:05pmPeople will not change their habbits unless they chose to do so.
Report Post »Vechorik
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 10:26amFor sure. Nasty labels on cigarettes didn’t decrease smoking in Europe, just as these calorie lists didn‘t change people’s food choices in America. What’s next? Nasty signs of regurgitated donuts to hang around the necks of obese people? Locking diabetics in jail until they lose weight? “DUI” tattooed on foreheads of alcohol-abusers? I yearn for freedom!
Report Post »momprayn
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 7:03pmGovn’t Mandated Food Next? –”There is an argument I have heard that we all need health insurance which is why we must mandate it and force people to purchase it. This is also the excuse used to invoke the “General Welfare Clause” of the U.S. Constitution…
If we can make the case that because something is necessary for our citizens then we must mandate it then why stop at healthcare? Let’s touch on the most basic of necessities. Two particular items that aren’t readily available (like oxygen) are food and water…. If we all need food and water to just survive, why not mandate that all Americans are entitled to 2000 calories of food intake a day and 8 glasses of water? We could go even further and say that one of the reasons healthcare is such a necessity is because of rampant obesity. To cut down on the costs of healthcare we could even mandate a particular style of healthy eating and ban all of the ‘bad’ foods. There’s this campaign to reduce obesity and promote a healthier lifestyle so why not? We could go even further and mandate gym memberships and at least 3 hours of exercise a day…
The logical conclusion of all this is that it no longer becomes a mandated purchase but a government owned and distributed Communist nightmare.”
http://godfatherpolitics.com/169/government-mandated-food-is-next/
Report Post »Poogie
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 6:59pmRemember-Only YOU can make YOU fat! The labels are helpful and good, but the government really needs to stay out of people’s business, especially the food business. Telling people what they can/cannot eat is tyrannical!
Report Post »SPOT_OF_TEA
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 6:59pmFLOTUS can vouch for that
Report Post »tom
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 6:59pmInstrution into our lives, it’s call communism. Vote Obama and his wife out in 2012.
Report Post »rjoco1
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 6:57pmMore wasteful Gov’t regulation. Did those idiots really think this was going to alter food habits.
Report Post »frustratedwithgovt
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 6:53pmTo be honest I do read labels in the grocery store but mainly because I’m trying to cut back on salt. That said I know when I’m buying a Big Mac that its not good for me and has a ton of calories. When I do it I do it because I’m in a hurry or on the road etc. I don’t need it posted to tell me that.
Report Post »yosemitefan
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 6:52pmWhen my govt tells me I have to anything – I am hard wired to the exact opposite. If I keel over I hope they find me with double cheeseburger and fries in my hands with a cold chocolate shake in the cup holder of my gas guzzler big block Ford getting about 5 mile per gallon…just sayin’
Report Post »Poogie
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 7:00pmYa! I agree!
Report Post »tomloy
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 7:04pmAmen! The feds tell me to do anything, all it‘ll guarantee is I’ll do the opposite!
Report Post »TexasConservativeCowboy
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 7:36pmwell if that happens i hope you swerve off the road and take out some liberals right before you go into the light hehe =)
Report Post »GRAMPA-D-NH
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 6:50pm“experts believe that for most individuals the issue isn’t about a lack of access to nutritional information; it’s about self-control”
__________________________________________________________________
“Self control” ? How novel a concept. Most of our problems, liberals included, would go away if our fellow citizens practiced more of this.
Report Post »grandmaof5
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 6:50pmCould it be because no one likes to be told what they can eat and not eat, unless they make that choice. Especially by someone who tells everyone else what to do and then stuffs her mouth with anything that doesn’t eat her first.
Report Post »Patriot Z
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 7:33pmexactly. im all for information so people can make decisions about what they eat, but thats where it ends. if i want to eat a delicious 1lb burger made with half beef and half bacon, fries, a beer followed by a bacon sunday(true story) iwill. heck you can come too,.,.,.im buyin :0)
Report Post »Qoheleth
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 6:47pmDoes anybody actually read those labels unless they’re bored? I tend to read labels for contents (because food companies have some amazing ways of hiding how much sugar they put in things), but the calories and other such hardly makes my reading list.
Report Post »poorrichardsnews
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 6:45pmOf course they don’t. Do they stop Michelle Obama from eating friend fries? Nope. http://poorrichardsnews.com/post/6840217141/michelle-obama-i-cant-stop-eating-french-fries
Report Post »Cobra Blue
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 7:28pmMore meaningless information. People are going to eat what they want to eat and drive what they want to drive….If something is bad or not healthy then it falls under the category of ….all together now…PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY.
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 8:44pmCan the Government count?? I know BO can’t.
Report Post »HARDWORKPAYS
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 10:19pmJust put a microchip in any food that is bad for us that can scan our DNA. Any one who is a big fat slob cannot eat the food or they will die from some sort of implant in the food. Then we can all live in the perfect, healthy-person-only, utopia that the progressives dream of. Oh would they not just love that. I am obviously joking, but one can see why socialism never works because if one measure of control does not work, another more extreme one will replace it. It always ends up with dead people in the end. Thinning the herd if you will.
Report Post »stifroc
Posted on July 7, 2011 at 11:41pmWhat? People aren’t eating right even after the Government said we should? Even after the Government forced nutrition information onto all labels and menus? No way! I never saw that coming?
The rank idiocy of our government and the “think tanks” is enough to make anybody with common sense consider purging humanity of such stupidity. To actually think and believe that people would make radical lifestyle changes simply because you tell them they would be better if they did… and if you print information… is completely devoid of common sense and utterly oblivious to human behavior.
Although I have to admit, Obama is on the right track. If nobody has a job, then nobody will be able to afford food, and people will be forced to become skinny. Heck a lot of the weak and elderly will die off rather quickly under those conditions, saving a ton on health care. Everyone is skinny and the government saves a ton of money! BOOM! WINNING!
Report Post »BSdetector
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 7:13amHey guys the nudge didn’t work. Maybe it’s time for a SHOVE…
Report Post »paintbrushbright
Posted on July 8, 2011 at 11:27amNone of my friends or family read their food before they eat it and no one is obeast. Who knows what happens behind Whitehouse doors. Michell might have had a tummy tuck but she still looks like she is pulling a trailer.
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