june-09-hmm-newsletter

E 2009

Healthy Menus Minneapolis

VOLUME 1, NUMBER 1

Welcome to Healthy Menus Minneapolis!

Healthy Menus Minneapolis is excited to introduce our first newsletter! We will use this email newsletter as a means of communication with our supporters as well as to highlight our successes and the events we have coming up in our campaign. We hope you enjoy the content and if you’re interested in volunteering with us, or just want more information about calorie labeling, please contact Jennifer Anderson, Project Coordinator at janderson@metrodoctors.com or call 612-362-3752.

What is Healthy Menus Minneapolis?

Congratulations Massachusetts!

Calorie Labeling is reaching all corners of the US, with the State of Massachusetts being the latest to pass a statewide menu labeling law that will be implemented in 2010. To see a map of menu labeling ordinances across the US, go to:

www.menulabeling.org

For more on Healthy Menus Minneapolis, go to:

Healthy Menus Minneapolis is a project of the West Metro Medical Society. We are a coalition of local health organizations concerned about the lack of nutrition information offered at fastfood establishments. One of the contributing factors to the growing national obesity epidemic is the public’s increasing reliance on fast food. Today, the nation’s children and families, on average, consume one-third of their calories eating out. Children eat almost twice as many calories when eating at a restaurant compared to a meal at home.

Unfortunately, the majority of restaurants do not provide easily accessible information related to the calorie content of the food they serve, making it nearly impossible for consumers to make informed healthy choices.

Healthy Menus Minneapolis believes that in order to combat one of the root causes of obesity, restaurant chains should be required to provide the calorie content of the food they serve, on menu boards, drive thru menus and table menus so consumers can make healthy informed choices at the point of purchase.

Grassroots Campaign Update

www.metrodoctors.com and click on WMMS Promotes Healthy Eating

Healthy Menus Minneapolis kicked off its campaign in early April when we attended Minneapolis Community and Technical College’s 2009 Health Fair. We were able to educate hundreds of students about the importance of calorie labeling and why Minneapolis should adopt a calorie labeling ordinance. Our next stop was the American Indian Wellness Fair held at the Midtown YWCA in late April. We added more supporters to our growing coalition as well as provided the Native American community with information about calorie labeling.

We will have booths at the 2009 Juneteenth Festival on Sunday, June 14th at Boom Island Park from 11- 5 pm and at the 2009 Twin Cities PRIDE Festival on Saturday and Sunday, June 27th and 28th at Loring Park from 10 – 6 pm. We hope to see you there!

If you’re interested in volunteering at events, please contact Jennifer Anderson at 612-3623752 or janderson@metrodoctors.com

Menu labeling videos on Youtube….go to: www.youtube.com and search “Menu labeling” Check us out on Facebook! Search “Minneapolis Venues Need Healthy Menus”

Did you know...

A medium chocolate shake at McDonalds has more calories then a Big Mac. A medium Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard at Dairy Queen has 950 calories.

Do you know how many calories you need in a day?

According to the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2,000 calories are recommended per day for an average male.

Growing Our Coalition Healthy Menus Minneapolis is working to expand our coalition in hopes of creating a community wide, diverse group of organizations that support the goal of bringing an ordinance that requires fast food restaurants in the City of Minneapolis to disclose calorie information on menu boards, drive thru areas and table menus. If your organization is interested in joining the Healthy Menus Minneapolis coalition, please contact Jennifer Anderson at 612-362-3752 or janderson@metrodoctors.com

Healthy Menus Minneapolis thanks our organizational supporters It would be difficult to push forward with a calorie labeling ordinance without the support of individuals and organizations. Our organizational supporters are the American Diabetes Association- Midwest Area, Catalyst, West Metro Medical Society, American Heart Association- Midwest Affiliate, HealthPartners, Allina Hospitals and Clinics, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, East Metro Medical Society and the Third District Nurses of MNA.

Poll and Restaurant Survey Results in Minneapolis Many cities, counties and even a couple of states have implemented measures related to restaurants and health. In an effort to inform local policy makers as well as to assess public support for a calorie awareness campaign, the Minneapolis Department of Health and Family Support conducted a telephone survey of 600 Minneapolis adult residents in October 2008.

The survey asked about eating out behaviors, concern about specific ingredients and caloric content of restaurant foods, knowledge about calorie content of foods and daily calorie needs, and support for a possible ordinance.

The results were overwhelmingly positive!

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Nearly 8 out of 10 respondents (79%) support the idea of an ordinance requiring calorie content labels on menu boards at fast food, chain sit-down restaurants and chain coffee shops.

Although 64% of people are concerned about the amount of calories in restaurant food, most cannot accurately estimate the number of calories in popular items and they make incorrect assumptions about calorie content. For example, when presented with a list of foods, most could not pick the item with the most calories. Similarly, people are unaware of the number of calories they need. Less than one-third estimated within an accurate range the calories needed daily by an adult male.

More than 3 of 4 residents reported eating in a fast food, sit-down chain or chain coffee shop at least once per week. On average, residents eat at these types of restaurants three times per week.

Around the same time the telephone survey was completed, a restaurant survey was conducted in over 200 fast-food establishments in Minneapolis. Approximately half of chain

restaurants in Minneapolis provided at least a limited amount of calorie information for items on their menus. However, only 23% had the information available at the point of purchase, primarily in a brochure format. None of the restaurants displayed the information on a menu board, where it is easiest to review as purchases are being considered. At 27% of the restaurants, the information was available only if the customer requested to see it. In half the sites with calorie information, it was available for only a limited number of menu items.

If you would like full copies of either report, you can view them at www.metrodoctors.com or call Jennifer Anderson at 612-362-3752.

Contact Us: Healthy Menus Minneapolis Jennifer Anderson 1300 Godward St NE Ste 2000 Minneapolis, MN 55413 612-362-3752 janderson@metrodoctors.com www.metrodoctors.com

CONSUMERS HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW!