Starting next year as part of the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, chain restaurants across America must post calorie counts on their menus to help patrons make better-informed decisions about the foods and drinks theyre buying. New York and a few other cities have already such requirements on the books and researchers have been busy analyzing whether it has had a noticeable impact on peoples behavior.
One early study that compared receipts from fast food chains in New York City before and after calorie postings were made mandatory found no significant difference in consumers choices. Still, defenders of the law believe that its effects will become more evident over time.
The effect of calorie counts is beneficial, said Thomas Farley, NYCs health commissioner in an interview with New York Times columnist Frank Bruni. But its small and somewhat spotty and can be overwhelmed by the marketing of the restaurant, he added.
Apparently, giving people additional information by itself does not necessarily alter their preferences. Most of us act against our better knowledge and judgment at least some of the time, consciously or not. When it comes to food choices, what influences us the most can depend on a multitude of factors.
Preferences for taste and presentation are obvious elements and so are price and availability. Less transparent are the effects of culture, upbringing and emotional components that go into our decision-making processes. For instance, we may limit ourselves to foods we have been familiar with since childhood. We may connect certain foods with seasonal events and practices (e.g. barbecued meats in the summer, cake and sweets on holidays). We may have religious or other cultural reasons to include or exclude some items. A fat reducing review can help you establish a clear summarize of what you need to focus on to accomplish your fat reducing goal if you're a novice; or serve as a reminder for those who are at an advanced or more enhance stage of their weightloss plan. Following are seven steps that can serve as methods for your own weight loss system. The first thing that one must understand is that losing weight and losing fat is not a similar thing. Many weight loss plans have fooled people into considering that it is the same, but most diets and weight loss programs only work by causing a person's body to eliminate more muscle tissue and water than actual body fat, more help please visit The Fat Loss Factor. Or we may reach for this and that when we are in a particular emotional state (e.g. joyful, relaxed, bored, frustrated, depressed). Also, of course, the marketing efforts of food manufacturers and restaurateurs play a significant role.
What really matters is what your beliefs are before you reach for your food, says Dr. Bryan Bollinger, a professor for marketing and economic policy at New York University Stern School of Business who was involved in the study on the impact of calorie postings. These beliefs are not always examined, which only increases their power over us.
A separate study on the leading factors that influence the typical American diet found that peoples lifestyle and social environment can predict their food choices almost as much as taste, cost and availability. This still holds true for the health-conscious. Demographics and membership in certain health lifestyle clusters predict consumption, including of items deemed as healthful like fruits and vegetables, according to Dr. Karen Glanz, a researcher at the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii and lead author of the study report. In other words, even the most aware and discriminating among us might not be as independent in their behavior as they would like to think.
Nevertheless, educated decision-making is nearly always a step up from operating in the dark, and for this reason alone it makes sense to give consumers as much information as possible. It matters how much of a nudge youre given, says Dr. Bollinger. Sometimes even a little bit can push you in the right direction.
If you liked this article, you may also enjoy reading "Your Eating Habits What Makes Them, What Breaks Them."
Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest
Timi Gustafson R.D. is a registered dietitian, newspaper columnist, blogger and author of the book The Healthy Diner How to Eat Right and Still Have Fun, which is available on her blog and at amazon.com. For more articles on nutrition, health and lifestyle, visit her blog, Food and Health with Timi Gustafson R.D. (www.timigustafson.com).
Different eating habits among cultures - WordReference Forums
forum.wordreference.com Cultural DiscussionsThe use of cutlery in eating may differ from culture to culture, influenced by a ... In Mxico we use 3 main utensils, a knife, a spoon, and a fork. If you are in a ...
LucReid.com How Long Does It Take to Form a Habit?
www.lucreid.com/?p=645Recent Posts. You Change Your Brain; It Changes Back; On Alex Shvartsmans Blog, a Guest Post About Fiction With a Message; Randall Munroe Tells You Whether or Not ...
How to Form a Habit eHow
www.ehow.com Parenting General Parenting Parenting BasicsThere are so many things we do in our daily lives that have become a "habit". Brushing our teeth is habit. How you answer the phone is a habit. The way you sit in the ...
Healthy Habits Healthy Eating Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle
healthyhabitsetc.comI'm passionate about my family's health and helping others adopt or maintain healthy habits in order to have fewer health problems both now and in the future.
How to Change Bad Eating Habits - The Healthy Eating Guide
www.thehealthyeatingguide.com/how-to-change-bad-eating-habitsHow to Change Bad Eating Habits: 7 tips for turning unhealthy eating habits into healthy, permanent behaviors.
Form Healthy Habits Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/formhealthyhabitsForm Healthy Habits. 226 likes 0 talking about this.
KarmaTube: Seven Habits of Mindful Eating
www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=3026"The rhythm of life is becoming faster and faster, so we really don't have the same awareness and the same ability to check into ourselves." These words are from an ...
My Healthy Eating Habits - Tips and recipes for making healthy ...
www.myhealthyeatinghabits.comWhere does the time go? Just yesterday I was sorting clothes, washing them and ironing them after our summer in Spain and now I am sorting, washing and ironing back ...
Healthy Eating Habits LIVESTRONG.COM
www.livestrong.com Diet & Nutrition Healthy EatingImprove your health, lifestyle, diet nutrition with Healthy Eating Habits news, facts, tips, other information. Educate yourself about Healthy Eating Habits help ...
Eating Habits - food, nutrition, body, diet, health
www.faqs.org Nutrition and Well-Being A to Z Diab-EmThe term eating habits (or food habits ) refers to why and how people eat, which foods they eat, and with whom they eat, as well as the ...
0 comments:
Post a Comment