Calories Will Be Counted In New York
Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
The New York Health Board thinks that certain chain restaurants (at least those with a minimum of 15 branches) should display calorie information on their menus. In fact, this is due to become law by April 2008 so they seem to be convinced that this is a good thing.
What is the thinking behind this legislation ? The New York Health Board is hoping to make a contribution to the massive information campaign on what and what not to eat. Not surprising given that obesity has now reached staggering proportions (65% at the last count). Health authorities are also worried about the high rates for cancer, heart disease and diabetes all of which have been related to diet in one way or another. It is now gathering comments before it conducts a public hearing in January 2008.
Does calorie counting really work? Dieticians tell us that it is an essential tool in calculating how much is going into our bodies and how many calories we are then using up though physical activity. This is why it is so useful not only for getting rid of weight at the start of the program but in keeping it off in the long term and we are talking about years here. Everyone will have a limit of daily calories which will be vital in reaching their goals.
Dieting by counting calories means there are no forbidden foods - everything is allowed - as long as you eat less calories than you burn up each day you will see the weight come off. But you really have to know what is going inside your stomach and what your body is doing to burn those calories.
How guilty are the fast food chains in all this debate ? Are they giving us too many calories and not bothering to tell us ? It seems that the answer is yes, according to some surveys recently carried out in the New York area. One survey found that up to a third of lunch items on a menu contained more than a 1,000 calories- that is about 50% of what you normally need in a day. Furthermore, the people who were interviewed said that it was not obvious where this information was to be found.
The point occurs to me that people may not be so bothered about looking for this calorie information when they are eating out. Well, it seems I am wrong because another survey found that people DO use this information when it is made available to them ,thus helping them to make a healthy choice. They also found that up to 10% of people were making mistakes about their calorie intake (up to 600 !) when they did not have this informaton to hand.
People are much more savvy now about what they buy when they go food shopping. About 75% say that they do look at the packaging very carefully to find out the calorie information. About 50% say that the information on the packaging does make a difference when deciding to purchase or not.
The Mediterranean Diet contains healthy foods in themselves- fruit, vegetables, legumes and cereals. Calorie counting is not so important but it still plays a part in this diet. This diet has been studied for a very long time now especially as there are lower instances of heart attacks, diabetes and other life threatening diseases.
About the Author:
Daunted by the idea of calorie counting? It is child’s play with The Mediterranean Diet Go to The Wellness Bible for breaking news on diets, ailments and latest developments on the health front. Click here for other unique ‘calorie counting’ articles.
Tags: weight loss
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