UK experts call for optional calorie labeling policy to tackle eating disorders

UK research finds that calorie labels on menus might help people with binge eating disorders, aiding their recovery. It encourages foodservice providers to communicate these through optional calorie labeling through QR codes, while adding that broader nutritional information can help mitigate the negative effects these labels may pose to people with certain eating disorders. 

The observational study from University College London (UCL) and King’s College London surveyed 1,001 people who lived in England and had experienced disordered eating.

The researchers observed mixed responses. Half of those surveyed reported worsening symptoms, while 26% thought calorie labels were positive and 24% considered them neutral.

People who found calorie labels to be helpful identified as binge eaters and were generally older and male with higher body mass indexes (BMI). The researchers explain that they liked the sense of control the labels provided.

Conversely, individuals with restrictive eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, were more likely to respond negatively.

Practical policy approaches

The BMJ Public Health study explains that in the UK, since 2022, restaurants, takeaways, and cafes with over 250 employees have been required to display the calories of the food and drink they sell on menus, online menus, and takeaway platforms. The government enforced this policy to help curb obesity and encourage healthy eating.

UK regulators plan to publish a review of the policy’s effectiveness by April 2027. 

Since the researchers also examined alternatives to calorie labels, they determined that optional calorie labels via QR codes would be more acceptable to people with eating disorders. 

In their examination, optional calorie labels were the most popular policy — 63.6% of the participants ranked it among their top three policy options. Other approaches, such as emphasis on broader nutritional benefits of menus, were also supported. 

“The bottom line is that people with eating disorders have a variety of views about calorie labels, but people with binge eating are more likely to find them helpful,” says first author Dr. Nora Trompeter at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health. 

“People with binge eating are underrepresented in most research, but more than half of our sample reported regular binge eating. We hope our findings can inform the government’s policy going forward.”

The researchers note that all the participants in the study had received an eating disorder diagnosis from a health professional. The study is noted to be the first of its kind to include children ≥16 years old.

“Our findings provide important insights for evaluating both the effectiveness and implementation of the policy in England, given the unintended negative consequences experienced by a vulnerable group in the population,” says corresponding author Dr. Tom Jewell, senior lecturer in Child and Adolescent Mental Health at King’s College London.

Eating disorders include binge eating disorder and anorexia nervosa, including bulimia nervosa, which researchers warn are among the deadliest forms of mental illness with high relapse rates.

“Eating disorders are highly recurrent in nature, with approximately 30% to 40% of patients relapsing within 10 years of successful treatment,” adds Jewell. “Public health policies need to consider not only the needs of people with current eating disorders, but also those with past histories to reduce risk of relapse and aid recovery.”

Those who were most likely to experience the negative impacts of calorie labeling were people with restrictive eating disorders, those who had received treatment for an eating disorder, and those reporting higher levels of clinical impairment.

Researchers split participants who thought calorie labels were unhelpful into groups: a moderately negative one, those who were highly negative and avoided venues with calorie labels, and those who were highly negative but did not avoid venues with these labels.

Examples of positive comments from participants include: “For me, calories on menus enable me to eat at restaurants with friends, family, and colleagues with minimal anxiety.”

In related news, a study found that teens using AI models for meal plans and dietary advice may be eating too few calories compared to those following plans created by dieticians. While undercalculating macronutrients such as carbs, the tools overcalculated proteins and lipids.