Obesityis the accumulation of body fat tothe level which might have a negative effect on health. Body Mass Index (BMI)is a widely used diagnostic tool which provides a simple numeric measure of aperson’s ‘fatness’. BMI of 18.5 to25may indicate optimal weight; a number above 25 may indicate the person isoverweight; while a number above 30 proposes the person is obese and over 40, indicatesunhealthily obese.
( Srivastava, S,2009 )There are various medical conditions that areassociated with obesity. Individuals who are obese are at risk of developingone or more of these severe medical conditions, causing poor health or, insevere cases, early death. The most customaryobesity-related diseases include: Diabetes High blood pressure High cholesterol Heart disease Stroke Gallbladder disease Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) Sleep apnea and respiratory problems Some cancers.Causesof obesity:Obesity is due to an individual taking inadditional calories than they burn over a long period of time.
These”additional” calories are deposited as fat. Although there are several factorsthat can lead to this energy imbalance in obese individuals, the maincontributors are behavior, environment and genetics.Although obesity is a multifactorial disease, an imbalance betweenenergy intake and expenditure is commonly quoted as its only cause. (Fernandes, A. C.
, Oliveira, R. C., Rodrigues, V. M.,Fiates, G. M., & Proença, R.
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P. (2015) ) Nutritional Labeling:One of many strategies proposed to decrease obesity rates and relatedchronic diseases worldwide is Menulabeling. (Fernandes, A. C., Oliveira, R.C., Rodrigues, V.
M., Fiates, G. M.
, & Proença, R. P. (2015) )Nutrition labeling of menus has been promoted as a means for helpingconsumers make healthier food choices asmost ofthe consumers are unaware of the high levels of calories, fat, saturated fat,and sodium found in many menu items. (Burton,S., Creyer, E.
H., Kees, J., & Huggins, K,2006)Food Labeling serves as a primary link of communicationbetween the manufacturer or packer of food on the one hand and supplier,seller, and user or consumer on the other hand. The manufacturer can influencethe consumer or its target user that it is the product of his choice, which suitsto consumer needs. Thus, the correct and required labeling certainly promotesthe sale of his product.ManyCountries have menu labeling provision. In the United States, the PatientProtection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 requires the disclosure of calorieinformation on menus of all chain restaurants with 20 or more outlets . In theUnited Kingdom, the government’s Responsibility Deal includes the provision of calorie informationin out-of-home restaurants .
In Brazil, big fast-food chains alreadydisclose calorie information on menus, and some municipal and state regulationson menu labeling are also being implemented.Thus,a need for labeling on menus to increase consumer awareness in cafes and restaurant environments is important. We Will Study the Impact ofDisplaying Nutritional Information on Consumers food choices and Decisions. Literature Review:Diet is a primary risk factor for a range of chronicdiseases, including heart disease, diabetes and some forms of cancer. ( White, C.
M., Lillico, H. G.
, Vanderlee, L., &Hammond, D. (2016). Food eaten at fast food chains andother restaurants has kept particular scientific interest because it isassociated with higher energy, fat and saturated fat intake ;lower intake offiber and calcium; greater consumption of junk and unhealthy food and lowerfruit and vegetable intake. Theoreticalmodels of food choice behaviors often consider a larger time frame of fooddecision-making and include broader contextual effects such as familyrelationships, age and life course. (Harnack, L. J.
, & French, S. A.2008).In the past decades, obesityin both adults and children has increased dramatically.The fast-food industry is frequently blamed as one of the major causesof the childhood obesity problem . (Ahn, J., Park, H.
, Lee, K., Kwon, S., Kim, S., Yang, J., .. .
Lee, Y. (2015).)VariousCountries are undergoing rapid nutritionchange concurrent with an increase in obesity, metabolic syndrome, and type 2diabetes (T2DM).
There is a shift from a healthy traditional home-cookedhigh-fiber, low-fat, low-calorie diet, towards increasing consumption ofpackaged, ready-to-eat foods which are calorie-dense and contain refinedcarbohydrates, high fat, salt and sugar; and less fiber. Although fats and oilshave been an integral part of our diets, there is a change in the pattern ofconsumption, in terms of both quality and quantity. (Kelishadi, R. (2007)) Major Cause of Obesity:Behavior Cause:In the present quick paced condition, it is anything butdifficult to receive undesirable practices. Behavior cause , identifies withnutrition decisions, measure of physical effort you perform and the push tokeep up your wellbeing. In view of food choices many individuals now select diet plans that are calorie-rich, howeversupplement poor. This behavioral issue additionally identifies with theexpansion in food intake amount at home and when eating out.The rapid rise In obesity is due tolargely changes in the food and physical activity environments.
Energy-dense,nutrient-poor foods are conveniently available and heavily marketed. Foods and fast-food consumption has been linkedto higher caloric intake and greater risk for obesity as they are known asbeing higher-calorie and less-nutritive.In addition, the past two decades haveseen a proliferation of restaurants, increased snacking, decreased family mealsand greater consumption of meals prepared outside the home. The growth inportion sizes of packaged and restaurant food have been implicated in growingobesity prevalence. In the course of recent decades, dietary examples havechanged essentially.
The normal measureof calorie intake every day has drastically expanded and food portionsadditionally assume a vital part in the unfortunate eating patterns that haveadvanced. The trend of” Extra larger Servings available” and “buffets ” has ledto lack of physical activity and people consuming more and expending less dueto lack of knowledge of daily dietary requirements. Labelling and Its Uses : Nutritionallabels can simplify the whole concept of healthy eating.
The term menu labeling has been usedwith different meanings. Some authors quote it as a synonym for calorie information ,whileothers use it to entitle nutritional information such as calories andnutrients.( Fernandes, A. C.,Oliveira, R. C., Proença, R. P.
, Curioni, C. C., Rodrigues, V. M., &Fiates, G.
M. (2016).)As indicated bythe Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA, a label is the essentialpurpose of contact between the maker and the buyer and ought to be thought ofas an crucial piece of the maker’s advertising design. ( Prathiraja, P., & Ariyawardana, A.
(2011).)) Study by ( Prathiraja, P., & Ariyawardana, A.(2011).) Reveals that provision of nutrition information allows consumers to switch consumption awayfrom ‘unhealthy’ products in those food categories toward ‘healthy’ products infood categories more easily.According to (Prathiraja,P., & Ariyawardana, A. (2011)), a label should clearly and minimallystate the name of the product, the net weight, the nutrition facts panel(nutritional label), the name and address of the manufacturer, and the brandname.
In India, as per Food Safety and Standards(Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011, notified by Food Safety andStandards Authority of India (FSSAI), Every Packaged food must be labeled in agreement to appropriate law inthe country. (Says, S. (2016, February 06)ButFSSAI(Food Safety and Standards Authorityof India )doesn’t have any Law or Regulation for Menu Labeling for restaurants andcafeterias.
(Harnack,L. J., & French, S. A. 2008) said that ,Calorie labeling oneatery chains and cafeterias menu is one general well being approach thathas been proposed to enable customers to settle on better nourishment decisionsat eateries and consumers must be informed about nutritional information atpoint of purchase for better decision making. Consumer’s approaches towards thenourishing part of the foods are expanding quickly as labels on food productshas a important role in delivering the relevant nutrition information to consumers.
(Roberto, C. A., & Khandpur, N. (2014))Anotheridea of Traffic-light labelling by(Emrich, T. E.
, Qi, Y., Lou, W. Y., & L’Abbe, M. R. (2017) was proposed in Canada as a general wellbeing intercession to decrease chronic disease riskby refining the nutritional intakes of consumers .
Traffic-light labels are apractice of interpretative front-of-pack(FOP) nourishment rating framework that provide information on the amountof calories and choose nutrients found within a specified amount of food. (Mcguire,Michelle. 2012).Author (Roberto, C. A., & Khandpur, N. (2014)) added, Right and straight forward food labeling is a well meaning and well being objective that oughtto be viewed as a vital methodology among many researchers to address obesityand horrible eating routine.
Conclusionsof the Literature :The readings for allthe literature concludes,(Tandon,P. S., Wright, J., Zhou, C., Rogers, C. B., & Christakis, D.
A. 2010) was the first study to suggestthat menu labeling can lead to purchaseof lower calorie content food in restaurants purchased for children bythere parents Authors ( Ahn, J.,Park, H., Lee, K., Kwon, S., Kim, S., Yang, J., .
. . Lee, Y. (2015)recommend that consumer empowerment is an extensive factor that deals withbeneficial data exposure to effect food decisions of consumer(like parentschoosing meal for there children’s feel empoweredafter knowing nutritional facts and choose healthy food for there children’s )and providing additional nutritionalinformation can be a tool of empowerment for consumers. Author ( Kent, G. (1988) recommended nutrition training as an essential instrument of empowerment.
Hence, nutritious data exposure infast-food eateries should be joined by fitting nutrition training to improveperceived empowerment while picking from menus.Author (Din, N., Zahari, M. S., & Shariff, S. M.(2017)) concluded that providingnutritional information on the menu may help customers make healthier eatingchoices as due to increasing obesity and related diseases, more and more peopleare becoming health conscious and they are concerned about the types of foodthey consume.
Consumers are interested not only of the appearance of theproducts but also the nutritional information for the food they are purchasingExamination by (Bandara, B., Silva, D. D., Maduwanthi, B.
, & Warunasinghe, W.(2016). demonstrates that consumers have a tendency to inspect the label when settling on the buying choice due toassess the reasonableness of the food item for vegans, religious reasons, tostay away from illnesses identified with food and to check whether the food isnaturally developed or not.Refreshing theNutrition Facts Panel and building up a uniform front-of-package labelingframework and delivering consumers with nutritional information on menus offercritical chances to instruct individuals about food’s nutritious stuff, increaseattention to sensible portion sizes and help consumers to settle on morehealthier decisions. (Roberto, C. A., & Khandpur, N.
2014)(Sacks, G.,Veerman, J. L., Moodie, M.
and Swinburn, B 2011,) projected that traffic light labelling on food productscould have a significant positive impact on the energy and nutrient intakes andwould have a positive impact on calorie intake and body weight. Modelingstudy by (Emrich, T. E., Qi, Y.
, Lou, W. Y., ‘Abbe, M. R.
(2017) stated that the choice of foods that met a specific nutritional standard over comparative food’s that did notmeet these guidelines would bring about positive changes in consumers dietary consumption.A study done by ( Fernandes, A. C., Oliveira, R. C.
,Rodrigues, V. M., Fiates, G. M., & Proença, R.
P. (2015) in North AmericaUNIVERSITY identified that ,that consumers identified that the most valued information on labeling was thelist of ingredients, followed by energy and fat content and stated that, perceptionsand choices of university students who received nutrition information inrestaurants which provided information on serving size, ingredients, calorie, sugar,fat, carbohydrate, protein, sodium, cholesterol and trans fat effected studentschoices and also concluded that display of only calorie data alone would belacking and stressed the importance of displaying a list of ingredients and fatcontent.Results of experiment done by (Din, N.
, Zahari, M. S., & Shariff, S.
M.(2017)) reveal that the common featured nutrients infood retail products like calories, protein, fat and dietary fiber were theminimum wanted information in the eatery menu experiment and , female customers were observedto be somewhat more worried than male clients on specific components identifiedwith nutritious data as they are considered as responsible authority inproviding the food and food selection for families. Experiment by ( Fernandes,A. C., Oliveira, R. C.
, Rodrigues, V. M., Fiates, G.
M., & Proença, R. P.(2015) concluded that calorielabeling would only help some peoplemake food choices and also that if standardized portions of food is provided in label it will help peopleto use the information to compare similar food products at markets, or similardishes in other eateries.Authors(Boles M, Maher JE, Moore JM, Knapp A. 2010)recommended ,While endeavoring to brighten the relationshipbetween nutritional data declaration and consumers’ food decisions, Researchers should consider the potentialfactors interplaying with disclosed nutritional information on affectingconsumers’ food choices.
(Harnack,L. J., & French, S. A. 2008) recommended that The effect on purchaseor food choices through calorie labeling or nutritional information could be supported if some additional weight isgiven to the nutritional information or calorie labeling.
For example, the value of considering calorieswhen making food choices at restaurants could be strengthened throughpromotional messages combined with the calorie labels.Final Conclusion states that Labelling has an positive impact on food choices andpurchases decision of consumers but Calorie labeling alone on menus is not enough to combat with the issue of obesity and researchers should focus on creative and cost effective ways to createnutritional awareness to decrease intake of unhealthy food and increase theawareness for healthy choices for consumers.
