Institute For The Future

Transparency informs smarter food choices. Or does it?

 

Business Week reports that when nutritional information is available on fast-food menus, parents choose about 100 fewer calories per meal for their children. It quotes the lead researcher's apt observation that,

 

One hundred calories over time is actually a significant amount in terms of weight gain, given the rates of fast food consumption and childhood obesity in our country.

The article notes that although many U.S. chain restaurants are now posting caloric information about their menu items, sometimes because of government legislation, "whether this information would translate to healthier eating was unclear."

 

 

Dr. Pooja Tandon and her research team at the University of Washington in Seattle used McDonald's menus for their study, and published their results in the January 25th online issue of Pediatrics. The study involved showing pictures (my emphasis) of McDonald's menu choices to 99 parents of 3-to-6-year-olds and asking which items they would pick for themselves and for their children. Half of the menus had calorie information for each item and half did not. Although the parents continued to make unhealthy choices for themselves, those with menus that had the calories listed picked foods with less calories than those parents who did not have the information.

Tandon says,

These results make me optimistic that if parents are provided nutrition information at the point they are purchasing fast food for their children they actually make lower calorie, healthier choices for their families."

Tandon's findings run counter to a study reported in the New York Times in October that was published in Health Affairs. Researcher from New York University and Yale observed customers in four fast-food chains in poor New York City neighborhoods and found that calorie postings did not change their ordering habits. The study also revealed that people will often say one thing, but then do another.

 

It found that about half the customers noticed the calorie counts, which were prominently posted on menu boards. About 28 percent of those who noticed them said the information had influenced their ordering, and 9 out of 10 of those said they had made healthier choices as a result.

But when the researchers checked receipts afterward, they found that people had, in fact, ordered slightly more calories than the typical customer had before [New York's] labeling law went into effect, in July 2008.

 

Lead author of the study, NYU's Dr. Brian Elbel, says of his research, "I think it does show us that labels are not enough."

Why? According to anecdotal responses from customers, counting calories didn't matter much to them:

"It’s just cheap, so I buy it. I’m looking for the cheapest meal I can."

“I don’t really care too much. I know I shouldn’t [order a Big Mac, 540 calories, with a large fries, 500 calories, and a large Sprite, 310 calories], ’cause I’m too big already.”

The first quote suggests that low-income people care more about price than calories, which is undoubtedly a factor in higher rates of obesity and diabetes in poor minority populations.

 

What else can we take away from the U-W and NYU/Yale studies? For me, it is that often people will say one thing—I'm going to order the lower-calorie item—but then do the opposite. (I see this as a major flaw in Dr. Tandon's research, which according to BW only tracked hypothetical responses to photographs.) So it is important to measure actual behavior change rather than expressed intent. The findings also indicate how hard it can be to change behavior, and that change may occur slowly, over time. The Times reported:

New York City health officials said that because the study was conducted immediately after the law took effect, it might not have captured changes in people’s behavior that have taken hold more gradually.

Further studies of the New York calorie posting laws are underway. Meanwhile, a similar legislative mandate was part of the federal health reform fiasco of late 2009.

Calories sign at Coney Island's Famous Nathan's Hot Dogs: www.flickr.com/photos/kbrinker/