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.

Interesting how some of those who are opposed to calories on menus fail to bother to consider other peoples views and experiences.

I think calorie free menus are important but they cater to a minority. That said, I strongly advocate for them being available and mandatory much like vegan and gluten free menus.

@mickarooni - no edu's are supposed to treat - hospitals are life saving. This is why edu''s are £4000 per week on average - I kid you not. And claim to "treat" and address underlying issues.
My son stayed in one for around a year and another for around 2 years. They don't treat Ed's but they claim to.
Luckily he found a way out without help & realised that the people who are supposed to help just aren't equipped.

[quote Strangeways19]@mickarooni - no edu's are supposed to treat - hospitals are life saving. This is why edu''s are £4000 per week on average - I kid you not. And claim to "treat" and address underlying issues.
My son stayed in one for around a year and another for around 2 years. They don't treat Ed's but they claim to.
Luckily he found a way out without help & realised that the people who are supposed to help just aren't equipped.[/quote]
Whatever your views on the role of inpatient and outpatient ED clinics, my point is that counting calories is an integral part of managing eating disorders for many people. As I said, it does not mean it works for everyone but it is certainly is a well acknowledged fact.

Is it?

It’s a well known fact that counting calories often leads to and is a big cause of many eating disorders. We do not want teens thinking it’s the norm or encourage them to do it. Counting calories isn’t the recommended treatment for under 18s and I think continuing to count after an eating disorder indicates you’re not over it. Surely the goal is to be able to eat and enjoy a full days intake without worrying about calories at all.

@Mickarooni counting calories really is not a way of managing eating disorders. Calorie counting perpetuates Ed's, focusses people on how calorific food is rather than nutrition & well being.
People with ED's are obsessed with calories & this is in no way healthy
@Alm0nd1 is spot on

Counting calories doesn't in of itself lead to EDs. That is a massive oversimplification.

@Alm0nd1

Is it?

It’s a well known fact that counting calories often leads to and is a big cause of many eating disorders. We do not want teens thinking it’s the norm or encourage them to do it. Counting calories isn’t the recommended treatment for under 18s and I think continuing to count after an eating disorder indicates you’re not over it. Surely the goal is to be able to eat and enjoy a full days intake without worrying about calories at all.

Counting calories isn't a cause of eating disorders. They are a mental illness. You're mixing up cause and symptom. Causal factors of mental illnesses can be, for example, trauma, abuse or heredity.

Yes of which many, many people will be susceptible to. However when you start to restrict and count calories Anorexia can kick in fast and it’s incredibly difficult to shift. The number reducing is addictive in itself and restriction gives you a high.My daughter started trying to get healthy with friends and started counting calories. She developed Anorexia incredibly quickly. Teenagers are already surrounded by pressure and more susceptible. My daughter had the traits, the calorie counting was an additional cause of the eating disorder and highly addictive. If she’d tried to get healthy by exercising and just cutting out crap alongside eating 3 healthy meals a day I’m not sure Anorexia would have hit her so hard or fast. She has told professionals she enjoyed watching the numbers go down.

Surrounding teenagers with calories every time they eat out is ludicrous and risky. They are all on social media and the My Fitness app is popular. At the very least it should only be over 18s getting menus with calories on and calorie free menus should be mandatory.

I was shocked when I saw online that it was on a kids menu.

@intwrferingma

Counting calories doesn't in of itself lead to EDs. That is a massive oversimplification.

No it's not, as I've said before all it takes for a child to develop anorexia is weight loss and the right genes.

What triggers the weight loss can be any number of things, it can be linked to trauma, social or psychological issues or it could simply be that a child starts trying to control how many calories they can eat.

With my dd the onset of lockdown and having too much time on her hands combined with low self esteem was all that was needed to trigger food restriction which led to weight loss and anorexia. EDs in children went up 300% during the last two years so she certainly wasn't alone in developing it during lockdown.

I absolutely can see that having calories displayed everywhere will lead to an increase in EDs.

Everything Almond has said is spot on.

I also don't think EDs do effect a 'tiny minority' and I suspect the figures are woefully under reported due to the lack of support and treatment out there especially for adult sufferers.

@Girliefriendlikespuppies absolutely agree, my son was obsessed with calorific content & even though it's clearly (I believe) a questionable method of monitoring health & what you're eating, he just became more entrenched every day. Certainly the obsession was fed by calorie counting.
Thankfully he's managing much better but what a horrendous journey, over 12 years of health crisis. I hope your DD improves x

@DaisyDreaming

I was shocked when I saw online that it was on a kids menu.

Why? Lots of parents are feeding their children way more than they require and for the first time we have a generation consisting of lots of obese children.

Kids shouldn’t be seeing calories. That’s why it’s shocking.

Kids aren't the ones ordering from a kid's menu, it's the parent.

If they're old enough to be going somewhere and ordering themselves then I'd guess they're at least 11, which I think is an appropriate age to begin learning about and practicing a healthy diet.

11 year old kids should not be calorie counting. I can’t believe anyone would think that’s appropriate.

@PurpleDaisies

Kids shouldn’t be seeing calories. That’s why it’s shocking.

Rubbish. Kids are taught how to read and interpret food labelling in key stage 2 (see www.gov.uk/government/publications/food-teaching-in-primary-schools-knowledge-and-skills-framework). It is something parents should be actively discussing with their kids.

When my kids were younger and wanted a treat in a motorway service station or supermarket I would say yes, so long as it was less than 250 calories. This is now a voluntary cap for some manufacturers (see here: betreatwise.net/right-portion-size-treats/) but it wasn"t back then. It was much clearer and more educational for them to have a numerical limit than to have non-specific rules about what they could and couldn't have. It was the best way to teach them that super-size or family pack were only appropriate if you were planning to share them. I would have done something similar in restaurants if we'd had the option, same as I usually pre-set a financial limit along the lines of "you can have any main under £x" rather than "you can have anything you like".

@PurpleDaisies

It’s not about calorie counting per se, more about developing a healthy awareness around calorie intake, heathy eating, informed decision making etc. Lots of kids are overweight now, way more than the minority who suffer with eating disorder. Being overweight is every bit as damaging as having a restricted eating disorder.

Lots of people on here don’t seem to get that.

Something has to be done.

@Hont1986

Kids aren't the ones ordering from a kid's menu, it's the parent.

If they're old enough to be going somewhere and ordering themselves then I'd guess they're at least 11, which I think is an appropriate age to begin learning about and practicing a healthy diet.

Do you have kids? Mine have been ordering since they could talk, and then as they were learning to read we'd use menus as reading practice.

Children should not be thinking or worrying about calories.

Anyone who encourages their children to do so is sadly setting the seeds for a potential ED.

Children need a balanced diet that includes all sorts of foods.

Once you've had a child with an ED your beliefs about what constitutes a healthy diet is completely flipped on its head. A healthy diet for my dd is high calorie and high fat, to recover from anorexia you need a minimum of 3000 calories a day and for some it's twice that.

I appreciate if you've never had to deal with this it is hard to believe or imagine.

@Girliefriendlikespuppies

But not all children have anorexia!! What about all those children who are overweight! There are more of those. They need support in all kinds of forms

Anorexia is actually a biochemical illness triggered by weight loss. The psychological symptoms (obsessive behaviour, lying, anxiety etc etc) you see are due to fat loss within the brain (the brain is 60% fat). Symptoms will not improve until weight restoration has occurred. The problem in this country is that many professionals set the target far too low, particularly in children/adolescents, so actual weight restoration never happens. This is how chronic anorexia develops.

I find it useful. My staff canteen does it, so I can make and informed choice. I was quite surprised at how high some food was, and how low other food was. In some cases I can get a lovely full meal with less calories than a sandwich.

Children should not be thinking or worrying about calories.Anyone who encourages their children to do so is sadly setting the seeds for a potential ED.

They should certainly be thinking about it. They will only "worry" about it if they feel it is something they have no control over.

@Soopermum1

I find it useful. My staff canteen does it, so I can make and informed choice. I was quite surprised at how high some food was, and how low other food was. In some cases I can get a lovely full meal with less calories than a sandwich.

Yes, agree. Our canteen does two yoghurt based desserts, which look very similar but one has far fewer calories because it uses low fat yoghurt and the other doesn't.