Parents are always instructing kids to “read the labels.” However a new study basically states that it really doesn’t matter or affect what all kids and adults decide to consume. Labels are read yes, but people still eat what they want to eat, good for them or not. Taste and price are the true deciding factors.
A New York area based study took surveys from 427 parents and teenagers at fast-food restaurants both before and after mandatory labeling began in July 2008. They focused on lower income communities in New York City and used Newark, New Jersey (which did not have mandatory labeling) as a comparison city. Data were collected before labeling began, and one month after labels were present in restaurants. As parents and teens were leaving fast-food restaurants, their receipts were collected and the foods they purchased were confirmed, along with a brief survey.
Before labeling began, none of the teens in the study said they noticed calorie information in the restaurant. After labeling began 57% in New York and 18% in Newark said they noticed the calorie information. A total of 9% said that the information influenced their choices, and all of these teens said they used the information to purchase fewer calories. This number is considerably smaller than the percentage of adults who said the information influenced their choice (28%).
The leader of the study, Brian Elbel, Ph.D., MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Health Policy at the NYU School of Medicine and the NYU Wagner School of Public Service stated:
“While the same percentage of adolescents and adults noticed calorie information, fewer adolescents report actually using the information in their food choice.”
However, the study did not find a change in the number of calories purchased at fast food restaurants after labeling went into effect. Teens purchased about 725 calories and parents purchased about 600 calories for their children.
Obesity in the United States is an enormous public health problem and children and teenagers are increasingly becoming overweight or obese. Calorie labeling is the first significant policy effort to address obesity that has been implemented. Calorie menu labeling is now mandated to begin soon across the nation by the new health reform law called the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010″ (ACA). Among the claims supporting this policy is that menu labeling will help people make better informed and healthier food choices.
The way food tastes was considered the most important reason that teens bought it, while price was a consideration for slightly over 50%. Just over a quarter of the group said that they often or always limited the amount of food they ate in an effort to control their weight. The study also reported that most teenagers underestimated the amount of calories they had purchased, some by up to 466 calories.
Elbel continues:
“It is important to further examine the influence of labeling, as it rolls out across the country as a result of the new federal law. At the same time, it is important to understand that labeling is not likely to be enough to influence obesity in a large scale way. Other public policy approaches, as well as the efforts of food companies as other actors, will be needed.”
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Written by Sy Kraft, B.A.