A young woman who has battled anorexia for nine years is begging the Scottish Government to abandon its plan to add calories to menus.
Hannah Duguid, 21, believes being confronted with the calorific value of every meal out could lead to youngsters making dangerous choices. Hannah, from Perth, began to skip meals as a teen and over-exercise to control her weight.
Eventually she broke down to her mum and got help from the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service but it was a long road to recovery and she had a major relapse at 18.
She said: “I know now I am not fat, what I am feeling is stress. Before I couldn’t eat something without knowing what was in it. I kept a lot of ‘safe’ foods in my memory that I knew I could have.
“Occasionally my anxiety does go up but I can now sit down to a meal someone else has cooked or go to a restaurant and see it as a treat.”
She added: “I understand obesity is on the rise but showing calories could lead to people fixating on the numbers. It will add to the stress of someone who is struggling.
“People are under so much pressure to look good and if you are out with someone you already think is slimmer than you and she opts for a salad you’ll be more inclined to find something on the menu with fewer calories than she is eating.
“It is unnecessary to have it in your face every time you look at a menu. It could lead to an increase in eating disorders.
“Staff could be educated so if someone asked they could tell them the calories or give you a QR code to access them without it being in your face.” Last night politicians backed Hannah’s pleas.
Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s health spokeswoman said: “Obesity is a significant issue in Scotland and it is important that any steps taken to reduce the problem are not one-off solutions but provide a holistic approach.
“We must support people to live healthy lifestyles and, ultimately, any proposals which come from the Scottish Government’s consultation must take account of the impact on individuals with eating disorders and the impact on businesses.”
Lib-Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “Calories are not a consistent way of measuring food intake, they don’t directly equate to healthy eating and there is no evidence their use on menus has a sustained impact on eating habits.
"Their inclusion can, however, massively compound eating disorders, induce anxiety in sufferers and elicit third party judgement on menu choices.
“Obesity is, in large part, a disease of poverty and social inequality. The Scottish Government needs to focus its fire on that.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We consulted on mandatory calorie labelling as part of a wider range of actions to support people to eat well when eating out.
“We take eating disorders seriously and will fully consider all consultation responses in relation to them.
“We recognise this is an opportunity to identify potential unintended consequences, and necessary mitigation measures, should mandatory calorie labelling be introduced.”
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