Should Calories Be on the Food Menu?

by Isabella Frobisher

www.gov.uk

Everyone can relate to feeling insecure about the way they look, whether that be you put on some weight or you don't like the way your clothes fit you. But this frustration with yourself can easily spiral out of control and lead to an eating disorder. This development of an eating disorder can just start with you initially going on a diet to lose a few pounds and then can rapidly fall out of your control. This doesn't mean that if you do start keeping track of your weight you have an eating disorder, as in moderation this can be healthy but if you let that number on the scales control you and you do not control it, an eating disorder will likely occur. Therefore, with eating disorders being on the rise, in particular for younger adults, is it right to have a single number representing the meal that you are about to eat? And, for you to vividly see it just when you are about to order your meal?

Around 1.25 million to 3.4 million people in the UK suffer from an eating disorder, with 10% of these cases being the disorder of anorexia nervosa. Knowing and keeping a count of the calories you eat daily is one of the key contributors to these eating disorders as you can keep track of the amount you are eating and can easily restrict yourself. Thus, with certain restaurants now having the calories of each and every meal on the menu, this can be a key encouragement to eating disorders. This is morally wrong as, when you are at a restaurant you want to be having a fun and relaxing time and do not want to have a physical reminder of a number to compare and weigh yourself against. If you are trying to lose weight healthily, you shouldn't have a reminder of that when you are out socially. Additionally, this can have a negative impact on a variety and range of people, some of which are more vulnerable to these intrusive negative thoughts than others. So why should the Government be encouraging food places to do this as it is likely to do much more harm than good? Furthermore, if someone does suffer from an eating disorder they will possibly use the NHS and its resources down the line. This will take money and resources that the Government could spend elsewhere, which may be of much more use. Even though a person’s mental and physical health is incomparable to the amount it costs to look after them this is also a key factor to consider. Also, the Government can be seen to be encouraging these eating disorders by having the number of calories on the menu as it is a known key contributor to these issues and affects everyone, as everyone will see those numbers when they are reading the menu. Thus, calories should not be on the menu as it is such a key component of intrusive thoughts that can spiral into an obsession that everyone is able to experience.

On the other hand, it can be argued that having calories on the menu can be used to persuade those who are of an unhealthy weight to be healthier. This can make these people possibly become a healthy weight as it is making them aware of what they are consuming. However, some of these people in very severe circumstances may be using the NHS resources themselves. Thus, being encouraged to be more healthy will reduce the reliance on the NHS to look after them. Nevertheless, this is only in severe cases and to the Government, this could be seen to them as saving money and helping to improve the lives of their population. Furthermore, having calories on the menu can help aid those and their efforts to stick to a restrictive diet. But this is unnecessary as if someone is eating out, they will be slightly aware already of the content of what they are consuming and would have already considered this as part of their diet. Thus, there is no need to have a number representing the meal to aid the minority of people when it has such a colossal impact on the majority.   

Even though there are a few minor benefits of having calories on the menu, the disadvantages vastly outweigh them, especially as the disadvantages affect the whole population. Whereas, the advantages only affect the minority. Thus, because eating disorders are so prone to a wide range of people, particularly that of a younger generation, calories should not be on the food menu. It doesn't matter what type of food restaurant either as it can have such a negative impact on everyone by encouraging those negative instructive thoughts that can easily turn into an obsession that can have lifelong negative impacts.