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The Difference Between Informing and Nagging
On Friday I
attended a CDC-sponsored obesity conference where I
participated in a panel discussion about laws requiring the
conspicuous display of calorie counts in restauraunts, the topic of
Steve Chapman's latest column. Chapman notes "there
is little research to suggest that calorie alerts will make any
difference in obesity rates," which is why a new study
of fast food customers in New York City that was discussed at the
conference is bound to be widely cited.
The researchers, all of whom work for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, surveyed about 7,300 customers at 275 randomly selected locations of 11 fast food chains before the city's new menu board requirement took effect. (The regulation, which requires calorie counts as big as prices, is still being contested in court, but some chains are already complying.) The health department researchers found that 32 percent of Subway customers said they had seen calorie information, compared to 4 percent of customers at other fast food restaurants. Since Subway promotes a subset of its menu as lower in calories and fat than its competitors' offerings, using a pitchman who lost hundreds of pounds while eating at the chain every day, this disparity is not surprising. But even at Subway, calorie information seemed to make a difference for a minority of customers. Of those who reported seeing the calorie information at Subway, 37 percent (i.e., 12 percent of all Subway customers) said it affected their purchases. Subway customers who said they used calorie information bought about 100 fewer calories (based on data from receipts and survey questions) than those who said they didn't see it and those who said they saw it but didn't use it.
Notably, "there was no significant difference in mean calories purchased by patrons reporting seeing but not using calorie information and patrons who reported not seeing calorie information." In other words, simply making people aware of calorie content is not enough to affect their food choices. It may be that the information's influence is limited to people who are predisposed to count calories, in which case the impact of regulations like New York's will depend on the extent to which those people are not already taking advantage of nutritional information available on fast food chains' websites and on posters, counter mats, tray liners, and brochures in restaurants.
Already supporters of New York-style menu rules are using this study, which is scheduled to be published in the August issue of the American Journal of Public Health, to estimate how many lives can be saved by making calorie information more conspicuous. Given the uncertainty about who would lose how much weight and what the health consequences would be, this is a dubious exercise. Even if the health risks (or benefits) of extra pounds were well understood (they aren't), it's not clear that the Subway results can be applied to customers of other restaurants. Given its emphasis on healthier options, Subway probably is more likely than other chains to attract weight-conscious customers, the sort who seek calorie information and act on it.
Even so, only 12 percent of Subway customers in this study (i.e., 37 percent of 32 percent) said they noticed the calorie information and took it into account. This suggests that the vast majority of fast food customers are not very interested in nutritional information, as does the fact that most chains make it available without highlighting it in the way that the New York City health department thinks is appropriate. The restaurant business is highly competitive. If people are clamoring for impossible-to-ignore calorie counts, why don't more restaurants voluntarily provide them as a way of attracting customers? A legal requirement is necessary not because diners want conspicuous nutritional information but because, by and large, they don't want it. The information apparently does not enhance their dining experience and may even detract from it. Perhaps they prefer to enjoy their food without being reminded about what it may be adding to their waistlines.
Pretty soon, I suspect, customers of restaurant chains (the focus of the regulations, since it's hard for mom-and-pop restaurants to standardize dishes) will no longer be able to exercise their right not to know. In addition to New York City, jurisdictions requiring conspicuous nutritional information in restaurants include San Francisco; Santa Clara County, California; and King's County, Washington. California, New York state, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. are considering similar requirements. As the restaurant industry faces a multiplicity of demands from various jurisdictions (Santa Clara County, for example, requires fat, carbohydrate, and sodium information as well as calorie counts), it may start lobbying for a national law that establishes a uniform standard.
Radley Balko criticized menu regulations in his Fox News column last week.
|6.23.08 @ 1:23PM|#
Subway
Yuck, what awful sandwiches they make, whatever the calorie count.
Just terrible stuff.
|6.23.08 @ 1:26PM|#
A friend of my wife was Jared's wife's college room-mate. Reportedly a huge douche. I've seen picture from the wedding. [shudder]
|6.23.08 @ 1:33PM|#
In other words, simply making people aware of calorie
content is not enough to affect their food choices.
You had your chance fat-ass. Now we'll do it OUR way.
Bingo|6.23.08 @ 1:37PM|#
There is nutritional info listed on the side of everything in
the grocery store but that doesn't stop people from eating the
entire bag of Ruffles.
If people are going to be fat asses, then they are going to be fat
asses. I don't care as long as there are still plenty of good
looking women running around in shorts and tanktops (god I love
summer).
Guy Montag|6.23.08 @ 1:41PM|#
On Friday I attended a CDC-sponsored obesity
conference
Well, Death Veggie from Cult of the Dead Cow is certainly one of
the better folks to hose such a confrence.
Episiarch|6.23.08 @ 1:45PM|#
Five.
Five Dollar.
Five Dollar Foot Long.
Yes, $5 for a bread sandwich is a truly super deal. After all, who
wants meat and cheese on their sandwich?
Orange Line Special|6.23.08 @ 1:45PM|#
Win $1,000,000!*
Find an example of Reason Magazine promoting something that would
*hurt* major corporations rather than assist them.
* $1,000,000 will not be awarded to anyone under any circumstances.
There is no contest. That figure is only used to make a point.
|6.23.08 @ 1:45PM|#
Almost no one seriously goes around all day counting calories,
which is what would be required for this to do anything.
Does this mean I get to file a lawsuit demanding carbs be shown,
now too? As an insulin-dependent diabetic (Type I juvenile, not
Type II lardass), I actually do have to crunch the numbers when I
eat- except I don't count calories. I count carbs. And at
restaurants, I have to simply guesstimate what the carbs are.
(Which I've never had any problem doing).
Maybe I can get together with the people watching sodium intake and
we can have an Equal Protection lawsuit. Why do the fatties get
special government-mandated help and not us?
/wouldn't be surprised to see this actually happen
|6.23.08 @ 1:48PM|#
In other words, simply making people aware of calorie
content is not enough to affect their food choices
You hear that? It's not enough! "We" need to do more to help make
people make better standardized food choices!
Guy Montag|6.23.08 @ 1:49PM|#
Back in the early 1990s I got a quite annoying, up close view of
the typical shrill Leftist thought behind these crazy calls for
regulation: I dated her.
While dating a Leftist health nut in college, she freaked out about
my choice of the Coldcut Combo at Subway saying it was "full of
fat". No, it had (then) some low amount of fat as long as you
skipped oil and mayo. Her shrill Leftie scream in response was that
they would be advertising that if they were. Well, they were and
they had it on the menu too (which was pointed out to her silence
the next time we went).
Her choice for inexpensive healthy food was Chinese takeout.
Had a similar encounter with her saying "I used to always buy
Adidas but, they stopped selling to the USA" and I attempted to
inform her that they did, indeed, begin selling again in the USA,
which was met with a shrill denial. So I took her to the Adidas
store in Pentagon City Mall the first time we visited DC.
Unfortunatly, you can't tell those people anything and rubbing
their nose in it, like a dog who took a crap in the house, only
works for individual examples on rare occasion.
|6.23.08 @ 1:57PM|#
Lonewacko -
You mean like not supporting immunity for the telecoms or bailouts
of investment banks/mortgage lenders? Or did you mean something
else?
|6.23.08 @ 2:02PM|#
Sugar Free-
I may have some sick sexual proclivities but they do not include
checking out Jared's naked torso. I asked the question because many
of the weight loss infomercials are not shy about showing some skin
as "proof" that their product is working. Ditto for many print
advertisements, such as hydroxycut,etc.
Jared may have lost 200 pounds but I suspect that he may still be a
dough boy.
Rhywun|6.23.08 @ 2:03PM|#
they stopped selling to the USA
I didn't know that. I have a pair that's like 10 years old--those
things are built like tanks. I would have been sad if I couldn't
buy another pair--if the need ever arises.
Rhywun|6.23.08 @ 2:06PM|#
Jared may have lost 200 pounds but I suspect that he may still be a dough boy.
I don't Subway ever claimed it gave Jared Abs of Steel&tm;.
Guy Montag|6.23.08 @ 2:07PM|#
Rhywun,
The conversations I mentioned happened in 1994. I do not know of
them ceasing sales in the USA since then.
|6.23.08 @ 2:07PM|#
liberty mike,
He might not be fat, but instead be trying to hide the wrinkled
folds of skin that hang off of him like a series of giant
labias.
Besides, much like the girl I see jogging every morning on my way
to work, Jared can lose all the weight he wants, it's not going to
do anything about the ugly.
Rhywun|6.23.08 @ 2:11PM|#
The conversations I mentioned happened in 1994. I do not know of them ceasing sales in the USA since then.
Yeah, I see some people wearing them & they look newer than
mine. That's a relief.
Episiarch|6.23.08 @ 2:14PM|#
I certainly have bought Adidas gear, including shoes, within the
last few years.
Besides, much like the girl I see jogging every morning on my
way to work, Jared can lose all the weight he wants, it's not going
to do anything about the ugly.
Don't you understand, NutraSweet...if she can only get thin
enough then it no longer matters! Just like Sarah Jessica
Parker!
Guy Montag|6.23.08 @ 2:16PM|#
So, Guy, did she change at all after you married
her?
ROFLMAO!!!!
I was dating her after my response to any hint at marriage was
"never again".
Heard that she married a CIA guy in the DC beltway area.
|6.23.08 @ 2:18PM|#
Already supporters of New York-style menu rules are using
this study, which is scheduled to be published in the August issue
of the American Journal of Public Health, to estimate how
many lives can be saved by making calorie information more
conspicuous.[emphasis added]
Already did it.
1 ± 2.
|6.23.08 @ 2:19PM|#
Guy,
I know the type of person you mean. However, they're not limited to
a particular political viewpoint. Ever meet one of those people who
refuses to believe that a non-terrorist could ever possibly have
been incarcerated at Guantanamo?
|6.23.08 @ 2:20PM|#
What is it with Parker and women? They get so pissed when you
point out the fact that very few straight men think she's is
attractive. (The ones that do, more power to you.)
It's probably related to women hardly ever admitting another woman
is fat. They never want the same standard applied to them.
Trying to dictate when men can find attractive is the epic fail
moment of feminism.
|6.23.08 @ 2:21PM|#
I was dating her after my response to any hint at marriage
was "never again".
Smart man. I didn't figure that out until it was too late.
|6.23.08 @ 2:24PM|#
LoneWacko, you mean opposing hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies to build stadiums for professional sports franchises? Or did you mean something else?
|6.23.08 @ 2:24PM|#
Trying to dictate when men can find attractive is the epic
fail moment of feminism.
Feminism. Attractive. DOES NOT COMPUTE.
|6.23.08 @ 2:25PM|#
LoneWacko, you mean opposing the gov't using eminent domain to take people's home so a drug company can build an office complex? Or did you mean something else?
Episiarch|6.23.08 @ 2:26PM|#
What is it with Parker and women? They get so pissed when
you point out the fact that very few straight men think she's is
attractive.
This is what they see: thin, "glamorous", stylish, loved by gay
men.
What they don't see, but we do: Her fucking horse
face.
Guy Montag|6.23.08 @ 2:26PM|#
Please, scroll up for quote attribution.
You'd better be joking about that "yumm", Guy.
Nope, I think she is a babe. Hope she wears those heels to bed
too.
I know the type of person you mean. However, they're not
limited to a particular political viewpoint. Ever meet one of those
people who refuses to believe that a non-terrorist could ever
possibly have been incarcerated at Guantanamo?
Same viewpoint but they have a different topic. Have met some of
those people who want "a windfall profits tax on oil companies just
like Nixon did it". Still a Leftist attitude, they just can't
figure out they should not be calling themselves 'Conservatives'.
Go figure.
Smart man. I didn't figure that out until it was too
late.
Me too. She was one of the first chicks I dated after getting
divorced.
|6.23.08 @ 2:27PM|#
LoneWackJob--Did you mean railing against rent-seeking corporate welfare queens or eminent domain abusers? Or did you mean something else?
|6.23.08 @ 2:27PM|#
LoneWacko, You mean Reason's consistent call for liberalizing Copyright and Intellectual Property Laws much to the detriment of huge media companies like Disney? Or did you mean something else?
Guy Montag|6.23.08 @ 2:28PM|#
Feminism. Attractive. DOES NOT COMPUTE.
'Feminism' is just a plot to allow ugly chicks to get more
attention.
|6.23.08 @ 2:29PM|#
Her fucking horse face.
I never really found her all that ugly until woman and gay men
started insisting she was attractive.
Some Arabian Sheik|6.23.08 @ 2:30PM|#
Sarah Jessica Parker is a handsome steed that I wish to add to my stable.
Guy Montag|6.23.08 @ 2:30PM|#
Are you guys responding to a LoneWacko post or are you calling
joe LoneWacko?
Filter is back on and staying on.
|6.23.08 @ 2:30PM|#
Ah, James beat me to it. Can't these people coming in my office see that I'm typing?
Guy Montag|6.23.08 @ 2:31PM|#
SF,
You know a lot of homosexual males who find her attractive? I don't
know of any who do, but my set is small.
|6.23.08 @ 2:32PM|#
Lonewacko -
You mean like not supporting immunity for the telecoms or bailouts
of investment banks/mortgage lenders? Or did you mean something
else?
LoneWacko, you mean opposing hundreds of millions of dollars in
subsidies to build stadiums for professional sports franchises? Or
did you mean something else?
LoneWacko, you mean the numerous articles denouncing ag subsidies
to ADM, and the like? Or did you mean something else?
TallDave|6.23.08 @ 2:34PM|#
Our local Djs call her "Sarahca Jessica Parker." Nice skinny
little bod, face is meh.
I would hit it, then turn her out to pasture.
GG|6.23.08 @ 2:39PM|#
This is what they see: thin, "glamorous", stylish, loved by
gay men...
like her
husband.
Will is hoping Obama is more of a "nudger." Or a "libertarian
paternalist," if you will.
Nudge Against
the Fudge
|6.23.08 @ 2:40PM|#
GM,
I thinking more of the SATC fan-base than actual anecdotes. They
like her gay husband, though.
|6.23.08 @ 2:41PM|#
"Nudge Against the Fudge"
That may be the gayest thing I've heard in a long time.
Guy Montag|6.23.08 @ 2:45PM|#
That may be the gayest thing I've heard in a long
time.
I still think Rainbow Warrior has the edge over that one.
|6.23.08 @ 2:48PM|#
Has anybody seen the Sex in the City movie? Her mug aside, how can a straight guy not be moved by her gorgeous gams? Further, her abs have to better then Jared's.
|6.23.08 @ 2:54PM|#
libert mike -
I will agree that Sarah Jessica Parker is more attractive than
Jared.
|6.23.08 @ 2:56PM|#
Also, as a nomination for "gayest thing I've heard in a long time," I heard the song Good Old-Fashioned Loverboy over the weekend and finally paid attention to the lyrics.
|6.23.08 @ 2:59PM|#
Reinmoose,
Are you suggesting Freddie Mercury is gay? You got any evidence for
this or are you just talking out of your ass again?
Guy Montag|6.23.08 @ 3:01PM|#
SF,
Please, never mention Mr. Mercury and anything about ass in the
same comment again.
Episiarch|6.23.08 @ 3:06PM|#
like her husband.
I don't know about that (I noted a
previous experience with Broderick here).
|6.23.08 @ 3:06PM|#
GM,
You think the gayest thing ever is a boat the French secret service
sunk. Mercury was the straightest straight that ever straightened.
You couldn't be straighter than him if you were made out of a bunch
of rulers somebody taped together!
He had a mustache, for fuck's sakes! How much more he-man hetero
can you get?
|6.23.08 @ 3:06PM|#
I was periodically allowed to and not allowed to listen to Queen growing up because my mother would forget and then subsequently remember that Freddie Mercury was gay. On her good days, you'll hear "Oh, I love Queen"
Guy Montag|6.23.08 @ 3:07PM|#
You think the gayest thing ever is a boat the French secret
service sunk.
I was talking about Jeff Gordon.
You know what they call guys who don't know anything about NASCAR
don't you?
|6.23.08 @ 3:09PM|#
I was walking up Madison one day with my girlfriend at the
time, who was HOT (she was a model), and we walked past Matthew
Broderick walking his little dog. He turned to look at her like a
slack-jawed yokel (you would expect a smoother move by a celebrity,
but I guess being married to Jennifer Grey would mess you up) and
almost got hit by a car. I laughed and laughed.
Epi, maybe he was just gawking at her shoes. Or Jennifer Grey
eventually turned him off the attentions and affections of the
fairer sex. (And I don't mean blond rent-boys.)
|6.23.08 @ 3:09PM|#
You know what they call guys who don't know anything about
NASCAR don't you?
Literate?
|6.23.08 @ 3:09PM|#
You know what they call guys who don't know anything about
NASCAR don't you?
Sir?
;)
Episiarch|6.23.08 @ 3:16PM|#
Epi, maybe he was just gawking at her shoes. Or Jennifer
Grey eventually turned him off the attentions and affections of the
fairer sex.
Dude, I'd say he was staring at me instead except it was 110%
obvious he was staring at her huge, gravity-defying tits.
Do you have any "evidence" that he's gay (other than you going down
on him at a glory hole)? Because after seeing the way he behaved on
the street, if he's gay, so is Sean Connery.
|6.23.08 @ 3:20PM|#
Do you have any "evidence" that he's gay?
Wow, you are really defensive. Is he like your boyfriend or
something?
|6.23.08 @ 3:41PM|#
Piazza, New York Catcher
Belle and Sebastian
Elope with me, Miss Private, and we'll sail around the world
I will be your Ferdinand and you my wayward girl
How many nights of talking in hotel rooms can you take?
How many nights of limping around on pagan holidays?
Oh, elope with me in private and we'll set something ablaze
A trail for the devil to erase
San Francisco's calling us, the Giants and Mets will play
Piazza, New York catcher, are you straight or are you gay?
We hung about the stadium, we've got no place to stay
We hung about the Tenderloin and tenderly you tell
About the saddest book you ever read, it always makes you cry
The statue's crying too and well he may
I love you, I've a drowning grip on your adoring face
I love you, my responsibility has found a place beside you
And strong warnings in the guise of gentle words
Come wave upon me from the wider family net absurd
"You'll take care of her, I know it, you will do a better
job"
Maybe, but not what she deserves
Elope with me, Miss Private, and we'll drink ourselves awake
We'll taste the coffee houses and award certificates
A privy seal to keep the feel of 1960 style
We'll comment on the decor and we'll help the passer by
And at dusk when work is over we'll continue the debate
In a borrowed bedroom virginal and spare
The catcher hits for .318 and catches every day
The pitcher puts religion first and rests on holidays
He goes into cathedrals and lies prostrate on the floor
He knows the drink affects his speed, he's praying for a
doorway
Back into the life he wants and the confession of the bench
Life outside the diamond is a wrench
I wish that you were here with me to pass the dull weekend
I know it wouldn't come to love, my heroine pretend
A lady stepping from the songs we love until this day
You'd settle for an epitaph like "Walk Away, Renee"
The sun upon the roof in winter will draw you out like a
flower
Meet you at the statue in an hour
Meet you at the statue in an hour
GG|6.23.08 @ 3:44PM|#
Dude, I'd say he was staring at me instead except it was
110% obvious he was staring at her huge, gravity-defying
tits.
Gay men love big tits! That said, effeminate != gay.
Speaking of SATC homosexuals ...
Cynthia Nixon's love is truly blind.
|6.23.08 @ 3:47PM|#
GM,
Sorry, what did you say? I can't make you out over the sound of a
bunch of guys driving in a circle for two hours...
Orange Line Special|6.23.08 @ 3:51PM|#
Ouch. I have to admit that was some serious pwnage up there. I guess all you UsefulIdiots are more useful (though no less idiotic) than I gave you credit for. However embarrassing you might think this failure of mine is, it does not detract from my overall credibility on IllegalImmigration so don't be to quick to pat yourself on the back you fools.
|6.23.08 @ 3:55PM|#
Epi,
Yep, that's her partner.
Can you
share clothes?
No. Christine doesn't wear women's clothes; she only wears men's
clothes. She won't even wear any kind of women's shoes. I bought
her a pair of cowboy boots that were from the women's department,
and she was like, "Don't do this again."
Keep an out for comments who think calling her the "man" in the
relationship is somehow bigoted...
|6.23.08 @ 4:01PM|#
Subway's calorie counts are for imaginary subs anyway. They don't include cheese or condiments. So when you get that "under 6 grams of fat" turkey sub with the low low calorie count on the menu, then tell the sandwich artist to put extra Provolone on it and drown it in mayo and mustard, you've gone and shot the calorie count to hell.
Episiarch|6.23.08 @ 4:09PM|#
If Nixon was hot this would be more disturbing, and therefore more interesting.
|6.23.08 @ 4:13PM|#
If Nixon was hot
I wonder if
this deleted Cynthia Nixon scene will make it onto the
DVDs.
Orange Line Special|6.23.08 @ 4:30PM|#
When sockpuppets attack! I tend to suspect that if the money were followed on the examples provided above we'd find that there's simply one set of corporations on one side and another on the other side.
|6.23.08 @ 5:26PM|#
SATC = Sex and the City
Ah, that makes more sense. I'm not sure why I didn't connect the
dots on that one.
|6.23.08 @ 5:27PM|#
I tend to suspect that if the money were followed on the
examples provided above we'd find that there's simply one set of
corporations on one side and another on the other side.
No, that's "Net Neutrality."
Orange Line Special|6.23.08 @ 5:45PM|#
That last post wasn't me. I not so stupid that I'd attempt such a ShamefullyEmbarrassing escape from my thorough pwning as that. When confronted with facts I wouldn't be so pathetic as to try to weasel my way out with what amounts to a WhimperingUnfalsifiable "even if it doesn't seem to benefit a corporation I know it does in some hidden way that you just can see so I'm still right, so there!" Seriously, just look at my site and you'd know that I would never write something as childish and lame as that last comment pretending to be me.
Orange Line Special|6.23.08 @ 5:51PM|#
And whoever is pretending to be me is going to end up wishing he was only getting deported as an IllegalMexican when my LegalJewish lawyers are done with him.
BakedPenguin|6.23.08 @ 6:05PM|#
I will agree that Sarah Jessica Parker is more attractive
than Jared.
Even I will concede this. Still, I saw her on the picture of one of
the checkout line chicmags, and was again stunned at what a homely
"beauty" she is.
I loved the Simpsons line "it's a show about three hookers and
their mother..."
Robert|6.23.08 @ 7:50PM|#
The thing about Subway is that unlike any self-respecting deli,
they pre-cut their cold cuts so they're always dry and practically
demand to be greased up with something to compensate. They must not
trust their employees with cutting tools.
Blimpie bases aren't quite as bad IIRC, but none of the chains
equal the independent delis.
dhex|6.23.08 @ 9:41PM|#
You know what they call guys who don't know anything about
NASCAR don't you?
interesting?
Just Sayin|6.24.08 @ 3:20AM|#
Sarah Jessica Parker had a certain je ne sais quoi in
LA Story.
It ain't that she's ugly, it's that she's 40.
|6.24.08 @ 1:29PM|#
None of the SATC girls are all that bad-looking (although Kim Cattrall was past her prime early in the show, and SJP was never all that), but, damn, you put nearly any woman next to Kristin Davis and she's going to look like the consolation prize.
ladystar|6.24.08 @ 7:04PM|#
When I dine out, I do not need a menu cluttered with nutritional information. My concern is a fine meal. The food cops are a band of idiots, meddling in our private lives, and terrorizing restaurant owners. Anybody who is that concerned about what they eat, should stay home and enjoy their rice cakes, tofu, and sprouts.
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