The Impact of Calorie Menu Labeling on Disordered Eating and Related Psychosocial Outcomes: A Longitudinal Study...

Calorie menu labeling policies are increasingly popular worldwide; however, concerns have been raised about the potential of calorie labels to worsen disordered eating and overall psychosocial wellbeing. This study aimed to investigate the potential unintended consequences of calorie menu labeling interventions on psychosocial wellbeing among young Canadian adults.

A natural experiment was conducted using longitudinal data from 3 waves of the Canada Food Study (N=2,327, ages 16-30 years). Multiple imputations were performed to mitigate missing data and attrition across waves. Repeated-measures logistic models with difference-in-difference analysis assessed changes over time for 11 outcomes, including disordered eating, internalized weight bias, experienced weight discrimination, and indicators of psychosocial wellbeing across 4 provinces: Ontario (mandatory calorie labeling) and Alberta, Quebec, and Nova Scotia (no labeling policy).

At baseline, 14% of the sample were at risk of disordered eating. Approximately half reported worrying about becoming fat (48%), and nearly one fifth experienced weight discrimination in the past year (19%). The implementation of a calorie menu labeling policy did not significantly increase the adjusted odds of disordered eating, internalized weight bias, experienced weight discrimination, nor other indicators of mental health.

The findings of this study contribute to the scarce literature assessing trends in disordered eating and psychosocial wellbeing in the ever-changing context of nutrition policy. The implementation of a mandatory calorie menu labeling policy in Ontario did not seem to elicit disordered eating among young adults, although the impact on people with pre-existing disordered eating and eating disorders is unknown.