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I do not agree that menu labeling would help reduce the rate of obesity in the U.S. An article in Time magazine revealed that there is a new proposal pushing for every restaurant in several states to post calories on menus. This article went ahead to report that 82% of New Yorkers made their orders in restaurants based on the labeling on the menu. The new legislation would be acceptable if its purpose was to prevent the food industry players from using hazardous ingredients such as Trans-fat, Sodium, and MSG. It would definitely be a good idea to help customers make the right decision when eating out. However, trying to insinuate that the legislation was crafted to mainly help in reducing obesity is illogical and a total waste of research resources. This policy categorically declares that chain restaurants should take responsibility for public health monitoring and regulation of diet-related diseases like obesity and heart complications.
The primary reason why I disagree with menu labeling is that obesity and other personal health problems are not caused by poor dietary habits alone. ‘Excess eating’ is only one of a myriad of causes of lifestyle-associated health problems. For instance, there are many fast-food chain restaurants in Japan and South Korea that are frequented by people as much as American fast-food restaurants are. However, in Japan & South Korea the rates of obesity are very low and the life expectancy is even longer. Do the people in these two countries really care about a calorie list? Not really, as a matter of fact a greater percentage of citizens from the older generation don’t even know what calories are. In my stay in the U.S., I have realized that Americans are much better at recognizing the calories in particular foods than most people elsewhere. The main reason why the Japanese and South Koreans are healthier is that they have good eating habits. Having proper eating habits is more helpful than having extensive knowledge of the amount of calories in the food that one eats. According to Hartocollis, when researchers studied the effects of menu labeling on eating habits, poor black and Hispanic fast-food customers, were used as the control group. Among these two groups, many incidences of obesity were recorded. It was observed that the said individuals did not really care much about nutrition since the cost of eating healthy was prohibitive (Hartocollis).
Finally, it is worth noting that even if restaurants start posting calorie labels on menus, the people who do not know about nutrition will not make plans to have improved meals. I would like to make the suggestion that the government finds a solution for obesity by targeting home menus as opposed to what people eat in restaurants. The state should put strategies in place to educate people about the need for better eating habits, such as regular eating schedules, eating small amounts at a time, and increased consumption of vegetables and fruits.
In conclusion, if the proposal on menu labeling is passed into law, every chain restaurant will have to invest in development of low calorie diets by using healthy ingredients for every food item on their menus. As a result, food costs will escalate and the low income earners will no longer afford to eat out consequently leading to a decline in the fast food industry. If this happens, the U.S. economy will be damaged for sure.
Works Cited
Hartocollis, Anemona. Calorie Postings Don’t Change Habits, Study Findings. New York. New York Times, 2009.
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