The downsides of sticking calories on menus: Charity warns policy has had devastating impact on eating disorder patients
- Restaurants with more than 250 employees must list calories on their menu
- But the policy has hindered the recovery of 84% of people with eating disorders
Putting calories on menus to tackle the obesity crisis has had a devastating impact on people with eating disorders, a study suggests.
Restaurants, cafes and takeaways with more than 250 employees must declare the calories in their products after a change in the law a year ago.
But this has hindered the recovery of 84 percent of people living with anorexia or bulimia, according to eating disorder charity Beat.
Their poll of 400 people with a disorder, or who care for someone with a disorder, shows that the change affects what 88 percent of those affected eat when they’re away from home.
This is because they feel pressure to follow their dangerous, disordered thoughts, the charity says.
Restaurants, cafes and takeaways with more than 250 employees must indicate the calories in their products after a change in the law a year ago
Respondents said measures taken to mitigate the damage, such as allowing restaurants to provide a zero-calorie menu upon request, created embarrassment and encouraged unwanted questions about their eating disorder.
Some 68 percent reported eating out less often and said they would avoid outlets where the calorie count would be present.
And 72 percent think it’s impossible to introduce calorie labeling on menus in a way that doesn’t put people with eating disorders at risk.
One respondent, ‘Nathan’, told the charity: ‘My anorexia sticks to these numbers and dictates what I eat: always the lowest calorie option, making it even easier to lose the weight I can’t afford to lose.’
And “Lucy” said, “When I’m with someone, I have to ask them to choose me or ask for a no-calorie menu, which is embarrassing and infantilizing.”
“It also raises uncomfortable questions when I eat with co-workers or other people with whom I don’t want to discuss my eating disorder history.”
Meanwhile, ‘Adam’ added, ‘I was out of the hospital for the night and wanted to enjoy a meal.
“Instead, I had a panic attack and couldn’t stop crying because there were calories everywhere and I couldn’t see anything but the numbers.”
Tom Quinn, director of external affairs at Beat, said: ‘It’s been a year and the results of the government’s underplayed, arbitrary idea are clearly showing.
“Calorie counts on menus are harmful to people with eating disorders — simple as that.
“People with eating disorders will change their meal choices based on calorie count, but they are also the people who shouldn’t.
“There is clear and compelling evidence to show the harm that the calorie count causes, and only a small amount of poor quality research to show that they might work in the general population.
“The government heard the concerns of us, people with experience and other mental health professionals and still chose to continue with a policy they knew was ineffective and the 1.25 million people who suffer from eating disorders would harm.
“They now have an opportunity to rectify this: scrap these dangerous policies immediately and instead look at measures that look at health holistically, and crucially, that actually work without causing harm.”
It is estimated that overweight and obesity-related conditions cost the NHS £6.1 billion each year.
Nearly two thirds (63 per cent) of adults in England are overweight or obese and one in three children leave primary school with an unhealthy weight.
A former Public Health England survey on calorie reduction found that 79 per cent of respondents said they believed menus should include the number of calories in food and drink.