Calories on menus - views of people with eating disorders and carers

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    The Impact of Calorie Labelling Regulations in England on People with Lived Experience of Eating Disorders: Exploring the views of adolescents, adults, and carers.

  • IRAS ID

    339743

  • Contact name

    Tom Jewell

  • Contact email

    tomjewell@yahoo.com

  • Sponsor organisation

    King's College London

  • Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

    n/a, n/a

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 2 months, 30 days

  • Research summary

    We are working to understand how calorie labels on menus affect young people and adults with eating disorders. In April 2022, the government introduced new rules so that large businesses (i.e., those with more than 250 employees) need to add calorie information to their menus. Some people with past and current eating disorders, and people who care for them are worried that this change might make eating disorders worse. However, some people have also experienced calorie labels as helpful in navigating their eating disorder symptoms. To find out more, we plan to talk to people of all ages who have experienced an eating disorder and their families. This National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funded project aims to understand how people with lived experience of eating disorders perceive the calorie labelling on menus, as well as other forms of nutritional labelling. To do this, we will conduct 1:1 interviews with people with lived experience of eating disorders, both adolescents (aged 13 and above) and adults. We will also carry out 1:1 interviews with parents/carers/partners/family members to understand their perspectives on the impact the new rules can have on people with eating disorders. We plan to find people to take part in our study through social media and NHS services (child and adolescent mental health services and adult services). Participants will be asked to complete one interview that can take up to an hour, online, on Microsoft Teams.

  • REC name

    Yorkshire & The Humber - Leeds West Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    24/YH/0206

  • Date of REC Opinion

    10 Oct 2024

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion