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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – There were no big gains in the war on obesity, new research studies show. Both the Rand Corp., a nonprofit think tank that focuses on public policy and two research paper studies showed that menu-labeling initiatives and fast food franchise bans are not accomplishing their intended job of improving eating habits. But another study by the New York City Department of Health showed people purchased fewer calories because of posted calorie information. Let’s look at what the preliminary evidence is showing.
Last year the city council of Los Angeles passed an ordinance which banned new quick service restaurants in a 32-square mile section of the city covering many lower income areas. The ban is in effect until March of 2010 and could be extended further. This ban was initiated to curb obesity rates by limiting restaurants that served inexpensive, high-calorie choices. Part of the reasoning for the ban was that poorer areas had more quick service restaurants. In Los Angeles that did not prove to be true.
The Rand study found that the targeted areas of the fast food ban, including South Los Angeles, had 19 quick service restaurants per 100,000 residents. Interestingly, affluent West Los Angeles has 29 quick service restaurants per 100,000 residents. The poorer neighborhoods do have more small food stores and other food outlets that serve high-calorie snacks and sodas. The ban may be driving consumers to frequent these stores if there are less quick service restaurants available closer to home. What is often overlooked is that quick service restaurants do provide some good choices. Maybe education to select these choices is needed instead of a ban. The convenience stores and local bodegas do not routinely offer healthier choices along with the normal snacks, beer and soda.
An intriguing study to be published in the November issue of Social Science and Medicine found that obesity rates went down in low-income neighborhoods that had a variety of convenience stores, supermarkets and quick service outlets within walking distance. This study suggests that restricting fast food outlets may not be an effective strategy against obesity.
There are limited studies exploring menu labeling and its effect on customer purchases. New York City was the first area of the country to require calorie posting in chain restaurants in 2008. Researchers from New York University examined the value of this mandate by comparing customer selections in lower income New York City neighborhoods against customer selections in Newark, New Jersey where calorie posting is not required. Preliminary findings published in the journal Obesity were not encouraging.
The population studied was 38% male and 85% minorities. The customers in NYC purchased 825 calories of food before calorie posting and 846 calories after posting. Customers in Newark, NJ, where there is no calorie posting, purchased approximately 825 calories. Customers in NYC did report seeing the calorie posting but the information did not appear to change behavior. In all fairness, this study was conducted soon after calorie posting was required, so in time the information may influence behavior, but initially it did not. Customers in the sample, however, did report visiting quick service restaurants five times a week. Therefore, even in a short period of time they did get repeated exposure to the calorie posting information and it still did not impact choices.
Another study conducted by the NYC Department of Health presented at the annual meeting of the Obesity Society last week, showed that customers who saw and acted on the posted calorie information bought 106 calories less than those who did not see or did not use the information. This survey was initially done in 2007 and repeated in 2009 showing an increased awareness of calorie information over time. By 2009, 56% of customers had noticed the posted nutrition information, but only 15% were using it. Those who used the information purchased an average of 754 calories of food at lunch. Those who did not see or ignored the information bought 860 calories of food.
What does all this mean? Eating behavior is very resistant to change. Numerous studies on weight loss have shown that interventions designed to educate people about healthy food choices are by and large ineffective. Therefore, simply displaying calorie information may not translate into significant behavioral change even over time. The studies did show that there was awareness of the information by a small group of people who put it to use to make better choices.
Menu labeling in restaurants is an important first attempt to alter the food environment on a large scale in the hope of changing customer behavior. It may take time before we begin to see results. We may need education programs in conjunction with the calorie information to impact on behavior. Public health experts believe that calorie posting will encourage restaurants to offer more healthy choices and that as customers see the contrast between high calorie and lower calorie options new behaviors may emerge.
What we do know is that when legislative changes are made research needs to evaluate these changes to see if there is a benefit. If no benefit is found, we need to alter the legislation or combine it with other programs to provide a positive outcome for consumers.
© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of the nutrition counter series for Pocket Books with 12 current titles and sales in excess of 7 million books. The books are widely available at your local or on-line bookseller.
Current titles include:
The Complete Food Counter, 3rd ed., 2009
The Fat Counter, 7th ed., 2009
The Healthy Wholefoods Counter, 2008
The Cholesterol Counter, 7th Ed., 2008
The Diabetes Carbohydrate and Calorie Counter, 3rd Ed., 2007
The Calorie Counter, 4th Ed., 2007
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to The Nutrition Experts
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