Calorie labels on menus: Does anyone care?
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Calorie labels on menus: Does anyone care?


Do the calorie listings on menus actually help people make wise food choices?

A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about 60 percent of people who notice menu calorie labels consider them when making a selection. That’s a pretty good rate.

Would it surprise you to know that women are much more likely to factor the calorie listings into their decisions than men are? The CDC researchers say that in each of the 17 states included in the survey, women paid more attention to the labels than did men. Overall, about two-thirds of women who saw the labels used them, while just under half of men did.

Experts say the fact that these labels are catching on with women bodes well for the battle against childhood obesity, because moms tend to be more involved than dads in meal planning and kids’ diets. If moms model healthful eating strategies for children, including paying attention to calorie counts, perhaps future generations will find good eating habits easier to come by.

The survey results also showed that people in some of the participating states were more likely than residents of other states to heed calorie labels on menus. The labels seemed to be least accepted in Montana, where they were used at a 13 percent lower rate than in the state that most embraced them: New York.

Study participants’ ages seemed to matter, too. In 12 of the 17 states, menu labels were most popular with people ages 35 to 54. Diners in other age groups generally were less likely to factor calorie labels into their selections.

The patterns emerging around menu labels are interesting to consider. They may help researchers and marketers learn how to make calorie listings more effective. Perhaps the ultimate result will be a population that takes the low-calorie road, instead of the high one.

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