In a growing trend, restaurants and dining halls across the country are displaying the nutritional values of items on their menus. Some displays include only calories, while others show more complete lists of nutrition facts.
Many consider this a positive trend - a way to let diners choose their food more wisely. But others see another side. Those with eating disorders are often extremely absorbed in this kind of detailed information. Calorie counts and fat gram totals can be triggering information that can lead members of this group toward more disordered eating.
Is there a wise course of action that can please more than one side of the debate?
Harvard University has received some attention recently for removing calorie count information from its dining halls. Harvard used to display index cards to show each menu item's calorie count, but students and parents raised concerns about the impact of this information on those with eating disorders.
The debate over displays of nutritional data highlights a much larger issue.
Those who classify foods as either healthy or unhealthy are on the lookout for how the food industry may be making a quick buck on you with unhealthy foods. And make no mistake: Food growth, processing, and delivery is an enormous business that cycles through trillions of dollars per year worldwide. A common phrase that has entered our vocabulary is "obesity epidemic," a shorthand term that many now use to support all kinds of weight-loss and health promotion programs.
The other side of the debate has fewer voices, but they're convinced of a different problem - that all the focus on what makes foods healthy or unhealthy leads us to fear and guilt. In this camp are those who suggest that diets are more likely to cause people to gain weight than lose it, and that the stigma around body shape and size fuels eating disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. They might also point out that the diet industry is also big business, to the tune of $40 billion annually in the U.S. alone.
