Calories on menus

[Blond3g1rl]

I think calories on menus is another nail in the coffin for casual dining. Not that I disagree with it as some places have a shocking amount of calories. Wagamuma I'm looking at you with your 1'200 calorie curries! Would be easy to have one meal there and eat your whole daily calories without thinking.

I detest calories on menus. Someone who is already obese and eats out all the time is not going to change their eating habits due to the calories being shown. All it does is make people like me feel shitty when I’m eating out

 

[Yel]

I detest calories on menus. Someone who is already obese and eats out all the time is not going to change their eating habits due to the calories being shown. All it does is make people like me feel shitty when I’m eating out

It's not perfect for every circumstance, but it's definitely helped me make better choices. It's forced some places to reformulate dishes to not be as unhealthy and added healthier options to menus.

I've got a friend that hates it, she either asks for menu without or ignores it.

Ultimately I like that people are given more information and can make better informed choices. It's so easy to eat vastly more calories than we need.

I wish it was on alcohol too, but I know that's Unpopular . Not a huge step up from the traffic light symbols you get on food.

 

[soph30]

Kids need to be taught not to ‘fear’ calories but see them as an informational tool. If you work out and burn 4000 calories a day for example you could have that 1000 cal breakfast every day, but if you burn 1500 and are trying to lose weight it isn’t a great idea. The whole problem with diet culture is seeing high calorie foods as ‘bad’ when you just need to be informed.
I think a good solution would be to scan a QR code or something to see the calories. Sometimes I want to find the calories for takeout food and they’re a nightmare to find

 

[I_Like_Tractors]

I detest calories on menus. Someone who is already obese and eats out all the time is not going to change their eating habits due to the calories being shown. All it does is make people like me feel shitty when I’m eating out

I am really glad of it, it makes me make better choices and I can actually plan the rest of my day if I know what I've had rather than guessing.

Different strokes I guess

 

[Yel]

We live in a world where 7 out of 10 adults are obese or overweight. People are more overweight than ever but also malnourished. I find being given the tools to know the calories very helpful to get the balance right.

Calories aren't bad, but having too many empty calories is. The other day at a service station I saw that cakes were 700 cals. Instead I had a pain au chocolat with a black coffee as it was 270 cals. Both I know are junk cals, but that was a huge saving for something that I enjoyed just as much. I find it so much better now you can track these things.

The human race is being poisoned, ultra processed junk foods everywhere.

Even those that don't care are still likely to have less cals as places reduce the number now they are published.

It's been years since I watched this, but I remember it being good.

It seems to be mostly the combination of carbs and fat. The issue is, calories still determine whether you put on weight and fat has 9 kcal per gram versus 4 kcal for carbohydrates, so it's easier to eat a lot more calories through eating fat. But the combination of both makes food very palatable so easy to eat a lot of it.

This, when you add sugar and fat together the body struggles to regulate it.

 

[Yel]

I think calories on menus is another nail in the coffin for casual dining. Not that I disagree with it as some places have a shocking amount of calories. Wagamuma I'm looking at you with your 1'200 calorie curries! Would be easy to have one meal there and eat your whole daily calories without thinking.

 

[ToxicPony]

All it means is that I end up ordering something i don't want so the calories aren't as bad, and then don't enjoy my meal.

Also, an obese person can eat far more calories than a slim one (or a tall person can etc) what I would REALLY like is the option to reduce the portion size, I'm often stuffed when I go out to eat and think, I could have done without all those chips but I ate them because they were there and i hate waste. For pizza I can take half away and it will still be as good, but for many meals this doesn’t work. It would be great if I could ask for a 2/3rds portion of the curry or a half serving of chips, so I get what I fancy without the enormous portions. Of course, that's probably a nightmare for the restaurant.

 

[shadowcat5]

It has changed because people are more aware of it now, I cannot eat yoghurt now as I cannot eat dairy but when I did eat greek yooghurt the lower fat ones had higher sugar contents. Also it is proven that fat and protein fill you up whereas sugar and just carbs don't. Obviously eating loads of fried food etc isn't the same as eating full fat milk or cheese though.

As has been said though it is really complicated. Not sure it has been mentioned, but in Dutch schools they have weigh ins regularly for students at school and if they are overwweight a nutritionist will go to their hosuse to talk to the parents, what do we think about this?

tricky one but I think this could be a culture thing. I don’t think it’d ever work in the UK cause our culture doesn’t allow for this. people don’t like being told what to do. It’s like when Jamie Oliver tried to change school meals and parents fed their kids McDonald’s through the fence. imagine these people having a phone call to say a nutritionist wants to help them cause their kid is overweight.

 

[Codiaeum]

Agree, I hate it too.

I find it very counterproductive and shaming even if I've got nothing to feel ashamed of. There is something very psychological about it in a horrible way.

Since I don't live in the UK, I saw the for the first time in October when I was over for a work trip and felt not great about it. I don't have a history of ED, but found it slightly triggering to choose the lowest calory option. I'm slim, i shouldn't need to be made to feel this way. I also thought of my goddaughter who has struggled with anorexia in the past, i wouldn't want her to see this. She is doing much better these days, but these thigns can come back quickly.

 

[shadowcat5]

Yes, that makes sense, you're right

I think a lot of the lunchbox policing in schools and Change 4 Life stuff (treating food as "sugar cubes" to be counted) puts children at risk of future eating disorders - not just anorexia and bulimia but binge eating etc. which can contribute to obesity. Having nutritionists in schools would likely make that worse. Even very young kids pick up on this, my family knows someone with a 6-year-old who went to a nutritionist over his weight after being referred by a GP. They were careful to try not to make it too obvious why he was there so that he wouldn't feel bad or risk being bullied, but he worked it out very quickly and still got upset

I don't see the point of the child themselves seeing a nutritionist. It's not like a 6 year old can decide on what they eat! I think a nutritionist in a school isn't necessarily a bad idea but I think it would have to be a classroom wide thing and more like education on food groups and stuff like that. I just think the issue is so multilayered and whilst calories on a menu isn't always bad idea, I don't think it's the answer to the health problems either

 

[pinkmug]

I think it's hideous and it helps nobody except maybe those who are calorie counting (which is a personal choice and should be handled by the individual themselves, not by restaurants). A dish being lower in calories doesn't mean it's healthier. It'll just be reminder that someone is making a high cal choice when there are lower cal options, it's soft shaming and in a global mindset that is obsessed with faux health trends, this is just another way to appear to solve a problem while making it worse.

Spoiler: Rant

People aren't obese or unhealthy because they have one high calorie meal at a restaurant. We live more sedentary lives, we work more hours so the less free time we have, the less we are inclined to cook from scratch every day. Food isn't just fuel, it's also a pleasure and it being more readily available it's also an unhealthy coping skill for a lot of traumatized people. Food is also much more palatable than it was in the past, junk food is heavily advertised to children obviously or subconsciously. Junk food is cheaper compared to what else is readily available, because not everyone has access to bulk shops or have the physical or mental energy to cook those meals. Less cooking in the family means less cooking children will learn from their caregivers. Healthcare is time consuming unless you have excellent insurance or a lot of money to go private. But sure, slap some numbers on a menu and Bob's your uncle, they can say that they've done their part.

 

[Mamacita]

It pisses me off a bit for 2 reasons: (apologies if it sounds like I'm on my soap box)

1. I wonder who it's actually for.
I really support that it helps people make informed decisions as some people are uninformed (e.g before I started tracking my nutrition I had no idea how much/little nutrition was in things). But if someone wants the high calorie option, they will eat it regardless. I know I would (okay I'm not obese or overweight according to my doctor so I guess there is that.) I'm not saying it's not helping whom it is meant to be helping, I am saying that it surely will only help people who want to be helped in that way in the first place?

2. sometimes it feels like calories have been hijacked by diet culture and made to be a bad thing.
I am a (mostly) recovered anorexic and calories were this huge horrible thing that made me gain weight. It wasn't until I went into recovery and got into weight lifting that I learned what calories are and why they're important. It also helped me with the idea that 'high calorie' = bad. It makes me sad to read that people would choose the lower calorie option because they feel guilty when meals out are supposed to be a lovely treat.

I think these are valid points, but in the end, calories matter and like you said, a lot of people actually have absolutely no clue. While your point around it helping only those that want to be helped makes sense, I think, even subconsciously, others will start noticing and hopefully it could help them make more informed choices.
And yes, for a lot of people eating out is a treat, but for many obese people it is actually what they do for every single meal or for a big part of them.

I love calories on menus. Prefer to know what I'm having. It doesn't mean that I will always chose lower calorie option, but it helps me track.

This is going to be a really unpopular opinion from me I think, but i don't think "diet culture" is really a thing. There is an obesity epidemic. Obesity is causing way more harm than what people call diet culture ever could

 

[lollipop_panda]

after many years (decades) of counting calories /kjs - I find it interesting but it doesn’t deter me from eating anything. It just makes me think either 1) I’m too old to gaf or 2) I won’t eat big next meal. Or a combo of both. I think it’s helpful to have nutritional info for people who are diabetic and have allergies or intolerances as it’s made restaurant / cafe dining more accessible.

 

[jackolantern]

Exactly this. The problem is that empty calorie food is too readily available and I personally don't think as a country, we have a lifestyle that encourages good eating habits or knowledge either.


I was hesitant to bring this up because it's a bit of a controversial topic sometimes and also not entirely on topic but I also think that other issues are not spoken about enough in the conversation of obesity. It's really easy to say eat less, move more and throw some calories on a menu but we are a nation of lonely people, we are a nation of mentally ill people, and then you have the aspects of things like poverty, opportunities, work-life balance, time, knowledge, it can end up a perfect storm.

Until we address *why* people overeat, eat less more more will never work. Yes you could argue it’s literally that simple but it isn’t is it. Many of use food as a crutch to get through life and unless you change the fact you feel like that in the first place, it would take unbelievable will power i.e. making yourself more unhappy to overcome that. Few manage to do so, absolute fair play to those who do, but there’s so much more to it all than just telling people to be less greedy.

 

[soph30]

The other thing they’re thinking of doing is putting obesity effects warning labels in plus size clothing? Not sure on that one, would probs just make me want to eat

 

[emm]

Sorry but completely disagree. I would like to see what evidence is pointing to that. Because the fact is that calories in calories out is always correct and that obesity is coinciding with the availability of highly processed, highly palatable foods. Agree it's complicated and agree it matters for health where calories are coming from, but calories still determine whether someone will lose or put on weight.

Not sure what you're suggesting by saying that as diet culture increases so does obesity.

I think there is lots of evidence that diet culture from the 1980s started to promote low fat as good, then often taking out fat and raising sugar in things like yoghurt instead, which has been a total disaster for nutrition generally

i think they’re one of the same problem. obesity is major problem in terms of stress on the NHS and healthy related issues but ultimately, both that and diet culture involve an unhealthy relationship with food which imo is causing the obesity problem.
There is evidence to suggest that those who crash diet end up more overweight in the long term. I don’t think it’s accurate to say that every obese person hasn’t tried some sort of diet and has just shovelled food into their mouth without a care.

I personally think we have a terrible relationship with food in this country along with a ton of other issues and whether that’s diet culture or obesity, we as a society imo should look at the sources of the problem. I’m no scientist, behavioural expert or government official so my opinion has very little credibility but I personally think that whilst calories on the menu is great, it’s essentially a finger plaster over a busted up damn in the grand scheme.

agreed, I also think healthier food needs to be subsidised somehow, one of the things I noticed when I first lived in other countries in continental europe was how cheap vegetables and fruit were compared to here. Obviously that is because they are laregly local in warmer countries but something needs to be done to make healthier food more affordable

 

[jackolantern]

I don't mind it, I do pause and think sometimes.

I think seeing the actual ingredients would put me off some stuff though. Calories and fat are not our enemies, in the UK as a population our fat intakes have been on a decline for decades yet our obesity rates have been steadily increasing- somethings not adding up and the research backs this up!

Sugar.

 

[Millennial Pink]

I don't mind seeing calories on menus, and it would be nice to have the option of seeing things like protein content. I wouldn't expect small businesses to go to the trouble, and I eat out so rarely that one high calorie meal isn't going to make much difference to me.
I don't think that having calories on menus will make any difference to obesity rates. Without putting the number into context, as in knowing your own calorie needs for that day, it's going to be pretty meaningless unless it's stupidly high. If it's that high, you probably already know it isn't good for you.

 

[Rippedjeanmaybe]

Eating out for us is a treat that we do probably only once or twice a month.
So when we do eat out, I honestly don’t care what calories I’m consuming because it’s a one off and it’s not an everyday occurrence.

When the calories started appearing on menus, I’d find myself avoiding certain options because I’d feel guilty about the calories. I’ve had to remind myself a few times that we don’t eat out everyday and that I’m allowed to consume high numbers of calories as a one off.

 

[lilyannrose]

I detest calories on menus. Someone who is already obese and eats out all the time is not going to change their eating habits due to the calories being shown. All it does is make people like me feel shitty when I’m eating out

Agree, I hate it too.

I find it very counterproductive and shaming even if I've got nothing to feel ashamed of. There is something very psychological about it in a horrible way.