Kaiser Permanente to Provide Calorie, Nutrition Information on Cafet...( ...),Health

OAKLAND, Calif., July 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaiser Permanente, a leader in promoting healthy eating, will become the first large health care provider in the country to offer calorie and nutrition information on its hospital cafeteria menus after a recent study showed that patrons chose healthier options when menus are labeled with those details.

According to the study, conducted by the University of California at Berkeley's Center for Weight and Health at five Kaiser Permanente cafeteria sites, patrons selected healthier options when menus were labeled with calorie information. More than 80 percent of patrons surveyed felt that Kaiser Permanente was helping them to improve their health by providing them with nutritional information in the cafeteria.

"This innovative program shows that people want nutrition information when they eat in places like cafeterias and restaurants, and that having the information gives consumers more control," said Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D., director, Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Yale University. "It would be wonderful if this were done on a broad scale."

Public health advocates are calling for menu labeling at restaurants as a way to improve the nation's eating habits and curb obesity. More than twenty states and localities have considered policies that would require fast-food and other chain restaurants to provide calories and other nutrition information on menus and menu boards. The state of California has recently passed a law to do so. Menu labeling has also been proposed as part of the national health reform legislation.

"If we want people to make healthier choices, we need to give them the information they need to make those choices," said Raymond J. Baxter, Ph.D. senior vice president, Community Benefit, Research and Health Policy at Kaiser Permanente. "Providing calorie and nutrition informat
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