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| No | 50% | 1157 votes | Total: 2297 votes | |
| Yes | 50% | 1140 votes |
No
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Add to FavoritesOh my heavens - NO! Why on earth would we want to do that? For the sake of some guilt trip? To punish fat people? To make eating out as unpleasant and boring as possible?
Okay, yes. I'm standing up right now and being counted: I'm fat. Overweight. Obese. In fact, morbidly obese. I'm afraid to get on my bathroom scale because I suffer from depression, and reading those triple digits will NOT help improve my day. So surely I should want to be counting every calorie that goes into my mouth? Wouldn't that help ease this whole "obesity epidemic" that the western world is suffering?
No. Because eating out isn't about calories and weight and obesity. Eating out is about experience and socialising and exploring the art of cooking. I'm not talking about grabbing a burger at lunchtime, I'm talking about sitting down with a bunch of friends and looking at a menu that's been brought to your table by a member of the waiting staff and spending some time talking to my friends and deciding whether I want to have the curry or something out of the tandoor. Whether I'll try something that took hours to cook, or something that's relied on the delicate culinary arts to come to fruition, and whichever it is that I choose, I want to choose it because it suits my mood, my state of hunger, the ambiance of the evening. I don't want it to be governed by some bloody guilt trip of how many calories it's got going on there and how many grams of fat and oh my goodness, this won't fit in with my diet, I'll just have a lettuce leaf thanks.
When I'm eating out I want to eat. I want it to be a pleasure and I want to choose my meal for the enjoyment value. Anybody who reads a women's magazine knows perfectly well that the grilled lean meat with steamed veggies or a side salad (no croutons, no dressing) is going to have fewer calories and less fat than the oily curry or deep fried whatever and can make that call without having to do a whole bunch of math over it.
The other point is - have you ever really read a restaurant menu? How many of them can actually get the spelling right and consistent? Precious few in my experience. And you think you want to trust them to put down a whole bunch of numbers about calories and stuff? Come on. They'll just bung in a few random numbers that they've made up on the spot. It'll be totally unreliable.
Eat out. Be aware of what you're eating and why. Enjoy yourself. Let an evening at a nice restaurant be one of life's pleasures. Let's not turn yet another thing into a guilt trip.
Learn more about this author, Amanda Le Bas De Plumetot.
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Yes
We've been hearing a lot about what we should eat and what we shouldn't eat, whether it's on the news, recommended by your doctor, or talked about by your friends. Well, how do we know what we should eat and what we shouldn't eat? Or, in other words, how do we know what's healthy? The only way to find out is for the menus in restaurants to list the amount of calories and trans fat that is contained in each food item. This should be done in order to prevent unhealthy eating habits that may lead to obesity, make people more aware about how much fat and calories they take in, and to allow consumers to plan exercise and diets accordingly.
Listing the nutrition information makes the consumers be more aware of the unhealthiness of the food item, thus allowing the customers to be aware of their eating habits and preventing obesity. Studies of the American Heart Association in 2008 show that approximately 33 percent of adults and 20 percent of children under 18 are overweight. That means about 143 million adults and 10 million children are at an unhealthy weight. Obesity is caused by consuming too many calories or fats without exercise or proper nutrition. By seeing how many calories and fats are contained in the foods people eat, they can control their diets, thus decreasing the risk of obesity and complications due to obesity. But, it is a common misconception that the people eating at a restaurant feel bad about their weight or eating habits when they view the information. What these people don't understand is that by listing this vital information, the consumers can find ways to solve their problem, instead of just feeling guilty about it. By reducing obesity, people can also benefit by decreasing the risk of other diseases and disorders.
In addition, people can see how much of certain types of nutrition are in the menu items. The people who suffer from Diabetes, high cholesterol levels, food allergies, or other disorders need to monitor what they eat. If all restaurants provided nutrition information, those people can easily control and monitor their eating habits. By doing so, they can improve their health and lead better lives. But, it is also misunderstood that preventing customers to buy unhealthy foods lead to a decrease in profit of the restaurant. But, because of the negative impacts that fattening foods or foods with high levels of cholesterol/sugar have, consumers turn to buying healthier foods that restaurants also serve, such as salads, fruit, or certain types of meat or vegetables. This way, the profits and economy will not be affected. Monitoring eating habits are important, but exercise and active lifestyles are just as important.
As well as watching what you eat, you need to exercise and maintain a healthy standard of living. To help plan for exercise plans and goals, people can see how many calories they eat and plan their exercise plan accordingly. If all menus listed the calorie amount, then customers can easily calculate their caloric intake and set goals to eliminate the consumed calories by exercising. Although exercising is a positive thing, some say that most Americans cannot find time in their schedules to exercise and do not have the motivation. But, studies have shown that if someone knew that they have been consuming calories and fat at unhealthy levels, they feel obligated to exercise and stay fit. Also, surveys show that the average American spends almost twenty eight hours watching television. By adjusting their schedules to incorporate more exercise time and less time glued to the tube, many can find time to exercise.
We can all have a longer lifetime, and one way to accomplish that is to eat healthy and eat right. But how do we know what's healthy and what's right? By listing the nutrition facts of menu items of restaurants, everybody can easily watch what they're eating, monitor their intakes of certain items, and plan their heath program much more easily than before. All of us can make a difference by expressing our opinion to the Food and Drug Administration. By doing so, we can have all menus across the country support our healthy lifestyles. It's a change for the better, a change for your health. After all, that's the most important thing that we have.
Learn more about this author, Bryan Bu.
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