Fat, a lot, hearty

British eat too much despite calorie labels

A typical English breakfast is hearty - and contains around 650 calories, depending on the portion size.

(Bild: AFP)

For the past two and a half years, restaurant chains in England have had to indicate on their menus how many calories their dishes contain. Despite this, the eating habits of the British have not changed.

For their study, the research team led by Megan Polden from the University of Liverpool surveyed more than 6,000 customers of restaurants, cafés and fast food outlets - both before and after the introduction of the menu rule.

Despite the additional information, customers did not actually order lower-calorie dishes or eat less. 

Fish and chips are very popular with the British. The food is not low in calories.

(Bild: AFP)

(Bild: AFP)

• However, the team did notice one difference: many more of those surveyed were aware of the amount of calories in their dishes; instead of 17 percent before, 32 percent were after the introduction. However, only a small proportion took this into account in their purchasing decision and opted for a lower-calorie dish, for example.

• The vast majority of respondents did not know how many calories they were consuming - and they greatly underestimated the calorie content of their meals. On average, the meals they bought contained around 1000 calories, around half the daily requirement of an adult.

The fight against obesity continues
The government in London introduced the menu rule in the hope that it could help combat the increasing obesity in the population. The idea was that those who were informed about the content would consume fewer calories.