Calories on the menu - just why?

[Figmentofmyimagination]

Visited pizza express last night to catch up with a girlfriend - first visit since pre pandemic. Ordered my favourite fiorentina pizza with spinach and egg but my enjoyment was somewhat diminished by reading the 950 calorie count on the menu. I understand that this is the law now. Who decided that this is a good idea? Absolutely crazy.

Also although I agree with PPs about more obese people than there are ED - surely obesity is mainly caused by ED but they’re just undiagnosed.

Of course it could also be down to genetics, health issues or depression etc but disordered eating is unnatural eating habits whether that’s under eating or over eating.

I don’t know anyone who is overweight and I’m in my mid-50s.

Really?!! No one at work, in your extended family, in any of your hobbies? None of your child's friends parents? Wow!

You mean you've done a calculator thin online or you've really seen that you don't put on weight at 2k calories?
Tim Spector used proper equipment to find his and it was 1600 if I remember correctly.

My approx rmr is almost as high as that

I eat around average 2.5k a day but I do a load of very intense exercise 3 or 4 times a week

This information was already available for those that wanted to know.

I don’t want to feel guilty about eating our as a treat. I can’t even imagine how hard it must be for those with eating disorders.

I’m afraid it has helped me think twice but understand it would be very triggering for those with eating disorders.

I find it helpful.

I can usually assess what is calorific but some meals do still surprise me. DH on the other hand isn't as good at it so this will help him make an informed decision.

In the past if I have fancied a McDonald's and I have done a lot of exercise then I would choose without thinking about the calories but on a lazy day I do look at them to compensate.

@OwlinaTree

I don’t know anyone who is overweight and I’m in my mid-50s.

Really?!! No one at work, in your extended family, in any of your hobbies? None of your child's friends parents? Wow!

This is why anecdata is pretty useless though.

"The Health Survey for England 2019 estimates that 28.0% of adults in England are obese and a further 36.2% are overweight but not obese"

That means a significant majority of the population are at least overweight.

@Roundeartheratchriatmas

This information was already available for those that wanted to know.

I don’t want to feel guilty about eating our as a treat. I can’t even imagine how hard it must be for those with eating disorders.

That's not always true though, lots of restaurants I've had planned to eat at, even chain ones like Banana Tree, did not have calorie information available.

I don’t think calorie counting is a healthy approach to nutrition and this is detrimental to those who have disordered eating as well as those who qualify for a diagnosis of an eating disorder. It’s pretty easy to find the information if you want it. Are we really saying that adults don’t know that chocolate cake, pasta and pizza dishes potentially have quite a lot of calories in? What about small independent restaurants are they required to produce this information too? What about if they vary their menu daily?

@MoiraQueen

I think they've been on McDonalds' menus for a long time. At least I have an idea in my head that a filet o'fish is 300 something.

Yes they have and they also make it obvious how screwed up pricing is influencing peoples food choices. Since McDs introduced calories on the menu, I've chosen small fries instead of medium. But you can't have small fries as part of the meal deal, so they effectively cost extra for less calories. Dominos also have similar pricing issue re their smallest pizza size.
Tesco's dine in for 2, you have to choose a sweet, you can't pick another side such as a veg. There are lots more examples.

A shop near me used to sell a meal deal, sandwich drink and chocolate bar. You HAD to have the chocolate bar or you paid more so I got into the habit of giving them the chocolate bar and then just putting in back in the basket (pre Covid). That kind of 'deal' shouldn't be legal.

A couple of people on this thread have stated that obesity is always caused by eating disorders.

Morbid obesity possibly may be mostly caused by eating disorders, but I very much doubt that the c. one third of people in their forties and fifties who are obese have all got eating disorders - I reckon that most of them just ate tasty readily available food and drank alcohol and continued to do so as they got older and started to lead more sedentary lifestyles. That's also the group for whom the blanket 2,500/2,000 calorie benchmark is a lie.

@WonderfulYou

Also although I agree with PPs about more obese people than there are ED - surely obesity is mainly caused by ED but they’re just undiagnosed.

Of course it could also be down to genetics, health issues or depression etc but disordered eating is unnatural eating habits whether that’s under eating or over eating.

Yes, but I think most people using ED on this thread mean Anorexia or maybe Bullimia but not overeating disorders.

Eating disorders like anorexia or bullimiaare recognised as mental health conditions which a menu informing of calories have little impact on.

In the meantime, the UK has 28% of their adult population classified as obese and a further 36% as overweight. That's 64% of the population with the health problems attached - type 2 diabeties, cholesterol, high blood pressure and cardio vascular problems being the main ones.

I really struggle to eat anything in public that other peole know has more than 500 calories in it. (It's an improvement! It used to be anything that had to be bitten into.) This is due to public shaming around food from WankerEx and my family. It's entirely mental and a hangover from a disordered eating pattern.

As restaurants cannot seemingly make meals of under 500 calories, it means I'll have water and watch everyone else eat. Like I did for many years. I will be avoiding eating out even more than I generally do in case it leads to no-eating weeks again.

Still, inflation and the gas bill means this won't be much of an issue for me!

" I reckon that most of them just ate tasty readily available food and drank alcohol and continued to do so as they got older and started to lead more sedentary lifestyles. "

That definitely explains being overweight, but being obese? Doesn't that suggest some kind of psychological problem with eating too much quite often? Not sure...
In any case it's now considered an illness and obese people are 'people with obesity'.

@Alondra

Eating disorders like anorexia or bullimiaare recognised as mental health conditions which a menu informing of calories have little impact on.

In the meantime, the UK has 28% of their adult population classified as obese and a further 36% as overweight. That's 64% of the population with the health problems attached - type 2 diabeties, cholesterol, high blood pressure and cardio vascular problems being the main ones.

I’m overweight but not obese and don’t have any of those health problems.

"Are we really saying that adults don’t know that chocolate cake, pasta and pizza dishes potentially have quite a lot of calories in?"

What is quite a lot though? 800, 1000, 1500? Big difference isn't there.

There was a poster on this thread who was surprised a panini was 500 calories so...

"I’m overweight but not obese and don’t have any of those health problems."

Yet? I'm not judging, I have one of those without being overweight.

The other slightly tacky thing about this is that imposing the requirement only on establishments with a large workforce necessarily means that only the high street chain restaurants that are visited by the hoi polloi like you and me, who can’t be trusted by the nudge unit to make good decisions, are impacted - not the kinds of places frequented by conservative politicians. It is all so patronising.

I actually think it's a good thing but I do have sympathy for people with eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia who struggle with calorie counting. However as we are in an obesity crisis we really do need to start educating people about the reality of the food we consume so readily. To some of you eating out may be a rare treat but in reality to many it's an every day occurrence. For me I have no idea about the calories in things but I am always shocked when I see the portion sizes of food in the 70s or 80s. I'm even shocked by serving sizes on packets: serves 4 when in reality I eat it on my own and am still hungry.

CounsellorTroi

I'm glad for you, but many do have problems. One of the biggest expenses in our health systems today are problems derived from over eating and a sedentary life.

@Figmentofmyimagination

I disagree. Unless I am a complete outlier, a visit to a restaurant is an unusual treat. Anyone who needs to know how many calories are in their pizza can look it up on one of the many apps that are available. Everyone else should be allowed to enjoy their pizza in peace.

Although Pizza Express used to publish this on their website, it wasn't always easy to figure out the calories for something (squinting at a tiny table never is!) and not all other restaurants did publish any information. They do now.

You may say it's not helpful for EDs - well, it's not helpful for people with anorexia. It is helpful for those of us who are binge eaters.

As with any change, it's useful for some, but not for all.

TBH I'm not sure I'll be able to eat out now. All of the places I used to go to will have calories listed and I don't know about asking for a non calorie menu or whether one would be available. I don't want to look different.

I don't think it will make any difference to levels of overweight or obesity in the country.

It’s about promoting healthy lifestyles and combating the Obesity and diabetes crisis that the NHS has to cope with. The informed will recolonise that. The ignorant will question it.

I’m one of the 36% who is a little overweight and it’s for reason other than stuff tastes nice and I have more of it than I need. This sort of thing is useful to me because it makes me realise how many calories are actually in my pizza- I would have guessed maybe 600 but if it’s actually 1200 then it makes me think.

The trouble is that if this data isn’t available then people moan that it’s not their fault they’re overweight, how are they supposed to know how many calories are in a whole stuffed crust pizza with wedges and garlic bread on the side, you can’t expect everyone to be savvy enough to google or get the app etc. When companies do post it then it’s nanny state and everyone knows someone who doesn’t find it helpful. They’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t.