There has been a firestorm of discussion recently around the issue of displaying nutrition facts (i.e. calories, fat grams) on labels placed in front of food items in college dining halls.  While the issue has been hotly debated on many campuses, including Yale and Harvard, it has also become a focus of national attention.  In response to the growing controversy, Newsweek recently posted a web exclusive article titled “Rethinking the Freshman 15″.  The question posed in the article is whether posting nutrition information promotes health or promotes an unhealthy obsession with numbers and food?  While the intention to increase awareness about healthy eating and balanced food choices is a good one, the idea that balanced nutrition can be broken down into a numerical value is questionable.  As Dr. Richard Kreipe notes in the article “Nutrition is not a simple thing that can be distilled down into a label,” and, he says, “There’s a tendency for people to over-interpret what a specific number means.”   

The reality is, disordered eating is reaching incredible proportions on college campuses nationwide.  As the article points out, between 2000 and 2009, the number of college students using unhealthy measures to lose weight has increased from 28% to 38%.  Furthermore, a poll published by NEDA in 2006 suggests that about 20% of a sample of 1,002 college students admitted to having an eating disorder.  Even more concerning is that 75% of them reported that they had not pursued any type of treatment for their eating and weight concerns. 

Clearly, we have a major dilemma on our hands.  There is a responsibility to promote health and wellness both in regards to eating and exercise behavior.  However, we have an equally important duty to decrease the stigma associated with weight and to prevent the development of disordered eating, including obsessive calorie counting and number-focused eating.  In order to obtain these goals, universities and colleges must be mindful of how nutrition and exercise information is presented and be vigilant in their efforts to make sure they are not, unintentionally, promoting unhealthy ways of relating to food and physical activity.  The strategy of displaying nutrition information supports a cultural misbelief that restriction of food items automatically equals health.  The implications of this message must be considered, especially when targeted at a population that is already at a heightened risk for developing eating disorders.

Although it is true that students will have access to numerical nutrition information outside of the dining hall, it is important that colleges think critically about the messages they are sending to their students by following a cultural trend of number focused eating and by placing this information directly in front of the food as students are served.  As is pointed out in the Newsweek article, there are other ways to promote balanced eating that do not include a focus on counting calories or adding up numbers.  The goal is for all students to be able to make informed decisions and build a healthy diet and lifestyle that supports both their academic and personal goals.  Can the achievement of that goal really be reduced to just a number?

This blog was written by CED’s College Liaison and outpatient Psychologist, Kristin Grasso, Psy.D.  If you have any questions about programming or services available to college and university campuses, please contact her at kgrasso@sheppardpratt.org.

photo courtesy of berklee.edu