By: Jacqueline Pollina
Special to the Chronicle 

We’ve all done it before – looked at the nutrition label of some favorite junk food and anguished over the exorbitant amount of calories written tauntingly, almost accusingly. From a biological standpoint though, writing the calorie count on anything is a pretty silly thing to do. It’s almost like saying, “Hey, all those macronutrients you consume are going to be metabolized to give you energy.” Obviously, scientifically, these calories “count” because they allow our bodies to function.

If we are to look at this calorie-awareness mission from a health standpoint, it might seem like a great idea. It helps to limit consumption of calories from pure sugar which, as all of us who have taken sixth grade health know, doesn’t really do much for us except give us that quick burst of energy followed by an inevitable crash.

However, recently, these calorie reminders have made their way from the privacy of our homes to public machines. The American Beverage Association declares that, “The Calories Count Beverage Vending Program offers consumers clear calorie information, encourages lower-calorie beverage choices and reminds them that calories count in all the choices they make.”

I agree that caloric values should be included on the machine since people with health-related issues, like diabetes, may need to know the nutritional contents of the beverage for a variety of reasons. There is nothing wrong with displaying calories, but to make the statement that the calorie count matters is treading in some pretty hot water.

Before I address why this movement is dangerous, I would like to first say that that it is also counterproductive. I have never met a regular soda drinker who would see a sign like this and say to themselves “Oh boy, I’m going to drink a diet coke today instead!” It is also the fact that this mission is promoting low calorie beverages, which is not an ideal approach if it is trying to advocate for better health, since sugar substitutes like aspartame used in diet sodas may be cancer-causing.

But my main problem with the sign is that it encourages the notion that “being healthy” means consuming fewer calories. For many individuals with eating disorders, this mentality fuels the disease. Consuming fewer calories, because of the fact that our society has reinforced the notion that these small units of energy are bad for you, can easily be rationalized by saying, “I’m just trying to be healthy.”

Eating disorders, diseases that completely distort the mind of the sufferer, are insidious diseases. They provide a strange sense of comfort and control to the person with the disorder, which reinforces to them that it is OK to continue with this disastrous behavior.

As somebody who has suffered from an eating disorder (but luckily has fully recovered at this point!), I can tell you personally that if I was attempting to make a stride toward recovery and saw this sign on a machine, it would probably stop me from making progress. Signs like these can cause somebody with an eating disorder to resort back to the behaviors and mentalities they are trying to overcome,  and even cause them to skip their next meal.

Eating disorders are sensitive and even the smallest things can be a trigger. So please, I ask, can we show a little more sensitivity to those who are suffering?

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