Food habits of the poor unchanged by NY calories law: study

A New York City law requiring restaurant chains to display calorie counts has not changed eating habits among poorer people, a study released Tuesday said.

The research by a team from New York University and Yale University, which was published Tuesday in Health Affairs, suggests some people actually ordered slightly more calories than before the July 2008 law took effect.

New York was the first US city to impose the calorie law, which is meant to promote healthier eating and combat the national obesity epidemic.

According to the survey, only half of 1,156 low-income, fast food consumers noticed the calorie count, and just over a quarter of those who did actually based their decisions on the information.

"We found that 27.7 percent who saw calorie labeling in New York said the information influenced their choices," the researchers wrote.

"However, we did not detect a change in calories purchased after the introduction of calorie labeling. We encourage more research on menu labeling and greater attention to evaluating and implementing other obesity-related policies."

(c) 2009 AFP

   

• Arkaleus - Oct 07, 2009
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  At what point do you expect someone with a 6th grade education to insert "calculate caloric content of meal and integrate into daily caloric intake" into their thought process? Perhaps somewhere between "I gotta get me some" and "Supersize it?"
  
  It's funny to watch people scratch their heads and strain to understand why people don't benefit from nanny state laws when they had it so carefully planned out for us.
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• ArtflDgr - Oct 07, 2009
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  hey! once again a left leaner wants to mitigate the truth as to a public policy that social engineering failed on. given that it isnt engineering but mass experimentation, pumping up what worked (or seemed to, or you can make appear that it worked), and mitgating what didnt preserves teh states and peoples ability to experiment on people in masse withotu permision in ways that if they did infividually they would be liable, and need huge approval. maybe one day a class action suit will sue them and the enablers for the destruction they caused by twiddling.
  
  it DID have an effect... it caused the poor to equate calories with value and so rather than eat as they did before, they ate things with higher calories.
  
  just like our ancestors, they want the most calories for the smallest expense.
  
  normal biology which these people dont belive in or do so very spottily (cause they want nothing but consensus through confirmation screw all else).
  
  sigh
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• defunctdiety - Oct 07, 2009
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  hey! once again a left leaner wants to mitigate the truth as to a public policy that social engineering failed on.

  
  Dgr, if you think Arkaleus is a left leaner, I don't think you know his posting history too well.
  
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• ArtflDgr - Oct 08, 2009
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  not arkaleus... the author...
  sorry arkaleus!
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• defunctdiety - Oct 08, 2009
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  Of course, sorry, that's my bad! Reading it again there wasn't anything to indicate you meant Arkaleus, I'm just crazy/
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• david_42 - Oct 11, 2009
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  I suspect most of those who noticed used it as a reference to maximize their Calories per dollar.
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