Should Calorie Listings be Banned on College Campuses?

Content Warning! This article discusses triggering topics such as calories and disordered eating.

Going to the dining hall is supposed to be an enjoyable experience. A time when students get to fuel up on their favorite foods and catch up with friends about all the latest topics in their lives. But with calories stated on school menus, this experience has turned into a huge nightmare for many students with eating disorders or disordered eating. 

Today eating disorders are one of the most common mental illnesses amongst young adults and often go unnoticed. Despite contrary beliefs, only 6% of individuals with eating disorders are medically diagnosed as underweight leaving many victims without treatment. Although this issue may be blind to many, without proper resources and medical care eating disorders have a mortality rate of nearly 20%. 

With this being said, approximately 10-20% of college females and 4-10% of males struggle with an eating disorder. It is crucial that schools take down these calorie listings in all on-campus restaurants to protect students from this serious illness. Despite the idea of promoting “healthy eating”, these numbers only encourage calorie counting, which often leads to unhealthy behaviors such as dieting. 

While these numbers have yet to be removed, it is important to understand how inaccurate they are. Today the FDA regulates up to a 20 percent margin of error on all calorie listings making this posted information very imprecise. Furthermore, it is impossible for a chef to weigh every single item they are cooking for you while serving an abundance of students at a cafeteria. With this being said, the numbers drilled in our heads are unreliable and are causing much more harm than good. 

Along with all these issues, it is necessary to acknowledge that the posted nutrition labels only include the calorie listings and not the quality or nutritious value of the foods we are putting in our bodies. This is implying that it is more important to fill your diet with low-calorie items rather than foods of variety. Any medical professional knows this belief system is incorrect. 

Although the intentions may not be bad, colleges need to remove these toxic numbers from their menus immediately. This will not only help struggling individuals find the joy and deliciousness in food but turn dining hall visits back into a pleasant pleasurable experience.