We've updated our Privacy Policy to make it clearer how we use your personal data. We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. You can read our Cookie Policy here.

Advertisement

Menu Calorie Labels May Worsen Eating Disorders

Person looking at menu
Credit: StockSnap/ Pixabay
Listen with
Speechify
0:00
Register for free to listen to this article
Thank you. Listen to this article using the player above.

Want to listen to this article for FREE?

Complete the form below to unlock access to ALL audio articles.

Read time: 2 minutes

Calorie labels on restaurant menus are negatively impacting people with eating disorders, according to a new study published today in the BMJ Public Health.


The review, which is the first of its kind, is led by researchers at King’s College London. It found that individuals who have been diagnosed with an eating disorder changed their behaviors if presented with a menu featuring calorie labels.


This included avoiding restaurants, triggering eating disorder thoughts and paying more attention to calorie labels as identified by eye tracking research.

Want more breaking news?

Subscribe to Technology Networks’ daily newsletter, delivering breaking science news straight to your inbox every day.

Subscribe for FREE

The research found that some people with eating disorders reported that seeing menu labels reinforced their eating disorder beliefs.


The study evaluated existing research to help build a picture of how nutritional labels on menus impact people with a lived experience of eating disorders or disordered eating. It reviewed 16 studies from the UK, US, Canada and Saudi Arabia which included 8,074 participants in total.


The study highlights that people with eating disorders can feel that eating disorders are perceived as less important in the light of obesity prevention policies.


However, physical health cannot be measured by a single indicator such as weight. Some argue that calorie labels can be seen as a blunt instrument to fix a complicated problem and that people with eating disorders could be losing out.


Food labeling came into force in England in 2022. Restaurants, takeaways and cafes with 250 employees or more must display the calories of the food and drink they sell on menus, online menus and takeaway platforms. The measure was an attempt to curb rising obesity levels. The United States and Canada have also made calorie displays mandatory, however, few policies targeting obesity have considered the potential impact on eating disorders.


The eating disorder charity Beat estimates that at least 1.25 million people in the UK have an eating disorder. The number of people admitted to hospital with an eating disorder has risen approximately 7% each year since 2005 – 2006.


Senior author Dr. Tom Jewell, lecturer in mental health nursing at King’s College London, said: “Our study highlights that people with lived experience of eating disorders are frustrated at being left out of the conversation around calorie labels."


"Policymakers should consider the impact on both obesity and eating disorders when making decisions about nutrition labeling. A recent review found that calorie labeling has a modest effect on people’s behavior but this needs to be counterbalanced with the potential harm it does for people with eating disorders."


Co-author Dr. Nora Trompeter, a research fellow at University College London, said: "Our study provides an important addition to the evidence base around calorie labels."


"Our review also shows that more research is needed to fully understand the impact of calorie labels on individuals with eating disorders. For example, none of the studies included young people."


Reference: Trompeter N, Duffy F, Peebles I, et al. Impact of out-of-home nutrition labelling on people with eating disorders: a systematic review and meta-synthesis. bmjph. 2025. doi: 10.1136/bmjph-2023-000862


This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source. Our press release publishing policy can be accessed here.