Healthcare

Will the FDA's proposed rules for calorie & nutrition info on convenience foods lead to better choices & better health? Not likely. The underlying idea behind the new rules makes sense on the surface: Give consumers the information they need to make healthier choices, and they'll make better choices; and those choices will be one more way through which they can improve their health. There are a couple of assumptions at play here. First, it's assumed that consumers are unwillingly in the dark when it comes to the nutritional value and caloric content of the convenience store hot dog or the triple-scoop sundae, and they want that information. Second, it's assumed that if consumers had that information, they'd skip the bad choices and opt instead for something healthier. (Although among the array of options in a convenience store, I'm not sure what could be deemed "healthier"... a microwavable vegetarian burrito perhaps?)

Really?!

I'm all for transparency and access to information, don't get me wrong. However, expecting that information to encourage better choices is short-sighted. In fact, a 2009 study by Duke University suggests the exact opposite. What's missing in this conversation is a means to address the behavior of health and health outcomes. People tend not to change an established behavior unless the incentive to change is compelling. More often than not the type of compelling incentive that prompts someone to change their health habits is a diagnosis of a life-threatening illness such as diabetes or experiencing something episodic but equally life-threatening such as a heart attack. In the absence of an alarming wake-up call like these, it is far too easy and convenient to continue doing what one has always done, even knowing the eventual outcome of continued poor choices will affect negatively one's health.

Behavioral change is hard. If it was easy, our country wouldn't be in our current health crisis, and if there was an easy answer, I'd be a rich woman. Accurate information about what you eat is a step toward making healthier choices, but it is merely one step out of the thousands of steps needed to make a long-term change in behavior that will realize better health. So, while you're reading the nutritional info to help you choose the lesser of the food evils, think about how you're going to make that one step toward better health a part of all the steps you need to take... and make it count.

To read more about the FDA's proposed new rules, click here or visit The Washington Post, The New York Times, or FOX News.