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Calorie reductions at chain restaurants could aid in obesity struggle
Large chain restaurants seem to have voluntarily reduced the number of calories in items newly added to the menu, according to research published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
The supply-side reductions to the calories at restaurants, a potential benefit of more rigorous menu-labeling requirements to be enacted per the Affordable Care Act, could help in the battle against obesity, researchers contend.
“If the average number of calories consumed at each visit was reduced by approximately 60 calories — the average decline we observed in newly introduced menus in our study — the impact on obesity could be significant,” Sara N. Bleich, PhD, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in a press release.
Sara N. Bleich
Bleich and colleagues examined data obtained from the MenuStat project, a census of menu items in 66 of the 100 largest restaurant chains in the United States, to determine calorie trends; there were 19,417 items for 2012 and 2013.
The researchers used generalized linear models to calculate mean change in calories among items on the menu from 2012 to 2013, as well as the difference in mean calories between new items and items already on the menu (overall and core vs. noncore items).
Overall, 63.2% of items were offered on menus in both years, 23.3% of items were newly introduced in 2013 and the remaining 13.5% of items were offered only in 2012. Data analyses took place in 2014.
Mean calories did not change among menu items in 2012 and 2013. However, overall declines were seen for calories in newly introduced menu items (–56 calories; 12% decline); the declines were mainly in new main course items (–67 calories; 10% decline). Mean calories also decreased for new beverages (–26 calories; 8% decline) and new children’s items (–46 calories; 20% decline). Chain restaurants with a specific food focus reduced the average calories in new menu items that were not core to their business more than core items.
“You can’t prohibit people from eating fast food, but offering consumers lower calorie options at chain restaurants may help reduce caloric intake without asking the individual to change their behavior — a very difficult thing to do,” Bleich said. “Given that the federal menu-labeling provisions outlined in the 2010 Affordable Care Act are not yet in effect, this voluntary action by large chain restaurants to offer lower calorie menu options may indicate a trend toward increased transparency of nutritional information, which could have a significant impact on obesity and the public’s health.”
Disclosure: The research was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.