Systematic Review Shows Calorie Labels on Menus Can Make Eating Disorder Worse
Calorie labels on restaurant menus are negatively impacting people with eating disorders, according to a new study published in the BMJ Public Health. The review found that individuals who have been diagnosed with an eating disorder changed their behaviours if presented with a menu featuring calorie labels.
This included avoiding restaurants, triggering eating disorder thoughts and paying more attention to calorie labels as identified by eye tracking research.
The study evaluated existing research to help build a picture of how nutritional labels on menus impact people with a lived experience of eating disorders or disordered eating. It reviewed 16 studies which included 8,074 participants in total.
The study highlights that people with eating disorders can feel that eating disorders are perceived as less important in the light of obesity prevention policies.
However, physical health cannot be measured by a single indicator such as weight. Some argue that calorie labels can be seen as a blunt instrument to fix a complicated problem and that people with eating disorders could be losing out.
Senior author Dr Tom Jewell, Lecturer in Mental Health Nursing at King’s College London, said: “Our study highlights that people with lived experience of eating disorders are frustrated at being left out of the conversation around calorie labels.
“Striking a balance between the positive and harmful impacts of calorie labels on menus is vital in any public health policies. Policymakers should consider the impact on both obesity and eating disorders when making decisions about nutrition labelling. A recent review found that calorie labelling has a modest effect on people’s behaviour but this needs to be counterbalanced with the potential harm it does for people with eating disorders.”
Reference: Trompeter, N., Duffy, F., Peebles, I., Wadhera, E., Chambers, E., Sharpe, H., Maloney, E., Nicholls, D., Serpell, L., Schmidt, U., & Jewell, T. (2025). Impact of out-of-home nutrition labelling on people with eating disorders: A systematic review and meta-synthesis. BMJ Public Health. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjph-2023-000862
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