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Menus with calorie counts influence meal choices
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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American scientists studying the influence of information provided on a menu on a person's choice of a particular dish have found that people tend to choose healthier food if they have the opportunity to see the calorie content of the dish, as well as the number of kilometers they will need to walk to burn off the calories eaten.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina provided participants with information not about the time it would take them to burn calories, but rather the distance they would need to walk to burn off the calories they had consumed.
The study involved 802 middle-aged women. The vast majority – 82% – said they would prefer to see nutritional information about the food and the amount of exercise needed to burn off the calories.
The experts randomly distributed different menu variations among the study participants:
- A menu that provided information about the calorie content of the dishes presented;
- Menu with information about calories and the time it takes to burn them;
- A menu that listed the nutritional value of the dish, as well as the distance that needed to be covered to get rid of the calories consumed;
- And the last option is a menu where no information was provided (control group).
Subjects were asked to imagine that they were in a fast food restaurant and needed to place an order. Which dish would they choose based on the information provided on the menu?
The participants could choose from hamburgers, sandwiches, side dishes, salads, sauces, desserts and drinks. For example, those who got a more informative menu were told: "A hamburger contains 250 calories, which you need to spend 78 minutes to burn and walk 4.2 kilometers to burn.
The menu was based on the most common and popular dishes of fast food restaurants, without pictures.
The results showed a significant difference in orders.
Thus, the group that received a menu devoid of any information, on average, ordered 1,020 calories less, while the participants who received a menu with information about calories, on average, ordered 927 calories. 916 calories were in the team that ordered dishes based on information about the nutritional value of the dish and the time needed to burn calories. And the dishes with the lowest calorie content were chosen by the fourth group, which knew both the calorie content and the distance it would have to walk after lunch.
"The menu that indicated the number of calories present in the dish, as well as the distance needed to burn them, turned out to be the most effective and helped people navigate their food choices. They tried to choose less caloric products," the researchers say.
At the same time, scientists note that despite the effectiveness of this method of combating obesity, these results still require additional confirmation.