Cafes, restaurants and takeaway stores with more than 250 employees must display how many calories are in their meals on their website, in-house and delivery menus.
Seeing calories on menus has impacted those who have an eating disorder or those who are in the recovery process.
Overweight and obesity related conditions across the UK cost the NHS £6.1 billion each year. Almost two-thirds of adults in England are overweight or living with obesity – and 1 in 3 children leave primary school overweight or obese.
The Government’s Public Health Minister, Jo Churchill said, “Our aim is to make it as easy as possible for people to make healthier food choices for themselves and their families, both in restaurants and at home.”
Lincoln restaurant manager, Andy Collier, has seen the benefits in having calories on menus. He told LSJ News, “I am hoping it will enable my customers to be more health conscious.”
However, Zoe Burnett, Lincoln’s First Steps ED Children and Young Persons Support Officer has said, “Stopping counting calories is one of the hardest things to do when you have an eating disorder. When I was in recovery I was encouraged to go to places without numbers, to build up that confidence, but this took years to do.”
The measures have been in place for over a month now but have had a varied response. It has become clear that those struggling with eating disorders have been hugely affected by the calorie count being shown on menus.
For more information or help on EDs, visit https://firststepsed.co.uk/
