Kids don't care about calories on the menu

Post by William Mitchell College of Law student, Francis Chang

Reuters published an article online describing a recent study appearing in the International Journal of Obesity.  The study determined that children and adolescents noticed the calories posted on a menu, but that it didn’t affect the amount of calories ordered and consumed.   According to the newswire article,  the study found taste was actually the most important factor for children and teens, more than the amount of calories they were consuming.  This study was conducted in New York City, which was the first U.S. city to require fast food restaurants to post calorie information on their menus.

From Reuters:

The team gathered restaurant receipts and surveyed 427 parents and teenagers at fast-food restaurants both before and after mandatory labeling began in July 2008. . . .

[The study] found that after labeling began, 57% of New York teens surveyed said they noticed the calorie information and 9% said that the calorie information influenced their food choices. . . .

The study found that most teens underestimated the amount of calories they had purchased, “some by up to 466 calories.”

Digging deeper into the issue, I looked at the International Journal of Obesity study that was the source of information in the article.  The interesting thing about the study was that it was focused on restaurants located only in low-income areas of New York City. Furthermore, 90% of the subjects used in the study were from racial or ethnic minority groups.  Neither of these facts was mentioned in the article.   The fact that this study targeted low-income groups and that 90% of the study’s subjects were minorities seems like a very important factor that should have been mentioned. The article makes the study sound as if it applies to all kids and teens regardless of socioeconomic backgrounds, which may not be the case. 

In the end, it was an article that was misleading and disconcerting, since most people will use this newswire article as their source of knowledge instead of looking at the actual study conducted. 

Thanks, Francis!