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Do ‘low-calorie’ sections on menus make us FAT? Grouping healthy foods together makes them seem unappealing

  • When presented with many choices, diners discount parts of the menu
  • When healthy foods are grouped together, they seem unappetising
  • So discounting all ’healthy options’ section is quick way to help decide
  • In turn, diners inevitably end up ordering something more fattening
  • But same effect not seen when healthy options spread throughout menu

By
Anna Hodgekiss


Published:

06:26 EST, 16 April 2014

|
Updated:

06:30 EST, 16 April 2014

They are billed as the healthy alternatives for figure conscious consumers.

But low calorie sections on restaurant menus could be making us fat, a study has warned. 

U.S. scientists discovered that when bamboozled with many options – and needing to rule some out -  many of us many of us discount the low-calorie section altogether without even reading it because it seems ‘unappetising’.

Low calorie sections on restaurant menus could be making us fat because when healthy foods are grouped together, they seem unappetising, a study has found

This, in turn, means we’re automatically likely to end up ordering something more fattening. 

Jeffery Parker, from Georgia State University, and Donald Lehmann, from Columbia University, wrote: ‘Because most restaurant menus are quite complex – offering numerous dishes composed of multiple ingredients – diners try to simplify their decision. 

‘People have come to expect low-calorie food to taste bad or not fill them up.’

As a result, ‘restaurants make it easier for people to
dismiss all low-calorie options
early in the decision process’, they say. 

Using four online studies, the authors asked people to order food from menus similar to those offered in well-known chain restaurants.

Some were shown traditional menus which listed available dishes by food-type, with no calorie information provided.

Another group was given the same menus but with calorie information provided.

‘Diners have come to expect low-calorie food to taste bad or not fill them up’, say the researchers

A third group was given the calorie-labelled menus with the low-calorie dishes grouped together and given a low-calorie section label.

The results showed that diners given the traditional menus without any calorie information – and those given the menus with the low-calorie foods grouped together, ordered food with similar amounts of calories.

Interestingly, the participants who ordered from the calorie-labelled – but not grouped – menus ordered meals with fewer calories overall.

Therefore, when a dish has a calorie count next to it, but isn’t arranged in a low calorie part of the menu, it is less likely to be discounted early on by diners, the authors conclude.

‘For the consumer, this means you are more likely to consider ordering a low-calorie dish and also more likely to eat it too.’

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Comments (10)

what you think

The comments below have not been moderated.

PaulaP,

Martinez, United States,

14 minutes ago

If you study the ingredients on most “low fat” items, they have replaced fat with SUGAR. I have to think that is even worse for you.

a,

Glasgow,

18 minutes ago

I always avoid the low fat, healthy options. They just seem less appetising and I believe they will lack taste and not worth my money!

PrivateSi,

WORCS,

32 minutes ago

EAT MY SHORTS!

ipayroadtax.com,

Midlands, United Kingdom,

35 minutes ago

low calories does not automatically mean healthy

Can I just say …,

London, United Kingdom,

36 minutes ago

These articles have no value what so ever,. They are just paper filler.

Lisa,

The Beautiful South, United Kingdom,

1 hour ago

If I’m eating out I would never go for a low calorie/low fat option. I’m going out to enjoy myself – not count calories or worry about my weight!

Alyssa,

Florida, USA,

1 hour ago

Most of the time, the “low calorie” sections are more expensive, less tasty, and leave me hungry.
I don’t go to restaurants often. I’m not gonna go out to eat and leave hungry!

KC,

Essex, United Kingdom,

2 hours ago

It might interest some to know that I have been much less inclined to overeat since being put on a dry powder inhaler for asthma. Superficial understanding of this medication means I have learned it puts up the blood sugar so maybe this has actually helped my weight which is now decreasing and I am not holding so much water either.

passthebutterplease,

Shrewsbury,

2 hours ago

Is anyone out there eating LOW-FAT food any more? Surely we all know that without piles of sugar and salt it tastes of cardboard. If you eat high fat food, like full fat milk or butter, you stay fuller for longer and you’re getting all the vital nutrients that are taken out when we eat processed low fat food.

Kel,

North Carolina, United States,

1 hour ago

Yes, there are whole industries and nutritionists that have bought into it and still promote it. My husband just won’t believe the new data that discounts low-fat.

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