The benefits of menu labeling for preventing obesity?

May 7, 2008

The Los Angeles County Public Health Division has produced a “health impact assessment” of how nutrition information on menus might affect customers’ ordering practices. The authors say that if 10% of customers reduce their caloric intake from restaurant meals by 100 calories a day, they would avert nearly 40% of the weight gain expected among Los Angeles residents. This is all theoretical, of course, but the hypothesis is testable - and New York City is doing the experiment. The NYC calorie labeling project is very much in the works. The city is starting to issue citations to non-compliers, even though the whole thing is still in litigation.

Oops.  Note the comment from Christopher Jarosz, one of the authors of the study.  On this model, it’s 100 calories twice a week (sorry about that and thanks for sending).


1 Comment

  1. A clarification: This health impact assessment, on which I am one of the coauthors, works-out to be a 100-calorie reduction by restaurant customers about two times per week.

    Comment by Christopher J. Jarosz — May 10, 2008 @ 8:36 pm

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