Food for Thought

There’s a lot of excitement these days about the new legislation (of which I know embarrassingly little about) that has fast food chains posting nutritional information alongside menu items. I’m not sure if this happens at all in Canada (yet), but I’ve seen plenty of it across the US of late. And while the public posting of nutritional information makes for remarkably engaging reading material while waiting around at the airport, I can’t help but wonder: will this really help any in attending to the pervasive growth of preventable nutrition-related illnesses?

Now, I’m not looking to be a negative nancy about all of this, really, I’m just wondering whether posting nutritional info in this way is really likely to accomplish all that much. Personally I love ready access to such information. I find it fascinating. Who knew they could smash so many empty calories into "normal" size items: like fitting a whole day's worth of calories into a hamburger, or a muffin; a muffin?! Frankly, it's like a game for me, reading all this "nutritional" information, it enthralls me, it fascinates me, and it kinda frightens me. But I realize that I am an anomaly not the norm. I love reading labels, I have a vested interest in what I put in my body, and I am an inquisitive person by nature. For those people who don't share said peculiarities of personality, do you really think that posting nutritional information on signs will make a difference to their daily food choices?

Do people even understand what the information means? Moreover, do they care?

Really now, what is the average level of nutrition literacy these days? (My guess would be that it’s disturbingly low, but that’s not rooted in any research.) So, if people aren’t taught how to interpret nutritional information, then what exactly is the point in posting it right, left, and centre (aside from fascination for some). Is the idea that increased visibility will increase a curiosity for more knowledge, or contribute to some sort of passive increase in literacy?

I confess, I’m being difficult. I do feel that there can be some incremental gains from shoving this sort of horrific information in your face. Indeed one could argue that by making the information more public more people might be compelled to start improving their nutritional literacy. This may not prompt someone to walk out of their already selected lunch location, but it may well deter them from coming back … so soon. However, with that said, we can’t deny that nutritional labelling has been in effect for years now, and clearly that hasn’t resolved the lack of personal education or interest people have in what they consume.

Perhaps it's a deeper problem? People don't respect themselves, their bodies, and the simple delicacy of human life, so why bother caring about what we do to ourselves. That would be sad. But if that is the reality, then should we not be targeting the prevention of nutrition and health related illnesses (obesity, diabetes, etc. ) at a more fundamental level: Teaching people at a young age to respect themselves, their bodies, and heck, life in general. Seems like that might be a useful little kernel of knowledge to impart on all those young minds.

I don’t know, maybe its just me on this one, but while seeing the 1000 calorie burgers available for purchase succeeded in turning me off my own healthy lunch, not to mention ever consuming at the chain in question, it didn’t seem to deter the plethora of overweight and obese people crowding the line for a quick bite. So maybe the unfortunate reality here is that this nutritional information is targeting the wrong crowd, and simply serving to reinforce the pre-existing divide between those with and those without nutritional literacy.