I was recently asked to speak to the Nassau County Legislature concerning the proposed “Calorie Count Posting” Bill.  Nassau County is considering the same law that New York City passed last summer.  The bill requires all restaurants with more than fifteen locations to post the calorie content of their offerings.  The posting must be the same size and in the same locations as the prices.

The restaurant industry is fighting the legislation, claiming that it is too large a burden to determine the calorie information.  They are also worried about future lawsuits if posted calorie counts happen to be off.  In fact, a representative from Outback Steakhouse spoke at the Legislature.

Obviously,  wholeheartedly support this legislation.  Read on for what I said to the Nassau County Legislature.  Then let me know what you think about the legislation.

As a pediatrician and child obesity specialist, I spend my days talking to overweight families.  I am constantly surprised at the lack of knowledge about calories and nutrition.  While it may seem obvious that certain foods have a lot of calories, most people are unaware of exactly how many calories they contain.

I recently saw a family with significant weight issues.  Mom weighed 360 pounds; Dad weighed 280 and their 11 year old son weighed 211.  The child was so overweight he couldn’t tie his own shoes because he couldn’t reach his feet.  He was ostracized in school and had no friends.  His parents didn’t understand why they weren’t losing weight since they were “dieting”.  Since both parents work, they often ate at fast food restaurants, such as McDonald’s and Burger King.  But they assured me that they were eating “healthy” by ordering salads.  After reviewing their salad choice, I informed them that each “healthy” salad contained almost 1,000 calories.  They were shocked.

There are many families in similar situations.  We are in the midst of an obesity epidemic.  Two out of every three adults in this country and one out of every three children are either overweight or obese and at risk for medical problems due to weight.  Nassau County is no exception.  According to the CDC, our children will be the first generation to die younger than its parents- all due to weight-related illnesses.  We must do something, anything, to stem the flow of this problem.

Studies show that in order to combat the obesity epidemic, we need to make major societal changes.   There is only so much parents can do when their kids are bombarded with super-sized portions and tempted with unhealthy foods.  Lack of education only adds to the problem.

Requiring fast food restaurants to post the calorie content of foods can only help.  Statistics show that when people know the amount of calories in their choices, they make better, healthier decisions.  A recent study showed that New York City residents are eating 52 fewer calories per meal since chain restaurants were required to post calorie counts.  And when you consider that the average American eats 1/3 of his meals at a restaurant, that number adds up to major calorie savings.  Another study conducted in February 2009, gauging reaction to New York City’s calorie labeling law, showed that of those who visited restaurants with posted information, 89% considered it a positive change — and 82% reported that nutritional information on menus had made an impact of their ordering.  Even better, forced disclosure could lead more restaurants to change their offerings. A report by New York City health officials noted that since menu-labeling went into effect last summer, some chains have lowered the calorie counts on certain items.

NY State spends more than $6 billion dollars a year on obesity-related illnesses.  And according to the CDC, obesity will soon overtake smoking as the leading cause of preventable death.  The New York City initiative is expected to prevent at least 30,000 new cases of diabetes over the next five years.  We in Nassau County need to do whatever we can to help our children.  The first step is to give them the necessary information to make healthy choices.  This proposed bill will do exactly that.  I urge you to consider our children when voting on this wonderful new legislation.  Thank you.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, July 19th, 2009 at 5:05 pm and is filed under weight loss. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.