Availability of Nutritional Information at Dining Establishments on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Campus

BACKGROUND:  In the United States, nearly 36% of adults are obese, and approximately 17% of children are obese. A number of chronic medical conditions are associated with obesity and overweight.  These adverse outcomes are often attributed to the consumption of high-calorie foods in dining establishments, and to the public’s underestimation of calories in restaurant serving sizes. To address this issue, healthcare reform has mandated calorie posting. New York City and the state of California have taken this issue further and legally require the posting of point-of-sale calorie information. A number of studies have demonstrated that consumers use posted nutritional information to select healthier options on menus. The purpose of this study is to determine how many dining establishments, on the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) campus, post nutritional information and provide recommendations to help UNLV faculty, students and staff select healthier food options.

METHODS:  All of the dining establishments (n =13) on the UNLV campus were visited to determine if nutritional information was visibly posted, and location of the information was noted. Descriptive statistics were used to show the number and percentage of establishments posting nutritional information, and where it was posted.

RESULTS:  The dining commons and two retail establishments (23%) posted caloric information for all items directly on the menu. The dining commons also displayed all other nutritional information for each food item on cardboard signs above the buffet-style serving stations. Two establishments (15%), posted calories and fat in grams for some items (on the “healthy” menu). Eight establishments (62%) did not post calories or other nutritional information on the menu, while two establishments had brochures available containing the nutritional information. Two establishments had napkins and cups that indicated the caloric content and grams of fat for selected “healthy” items. Seven establishments posted links to nutritional information on the UNLV Dining website, six did not.

CONCLUSIONS:  More than half of the dining establishments on the UNLV campus did not provide any nutritional information about their food items, except on the website. The establishments that did not post information served foods with higher caloric content in general. The literature suggests that brochures and information after sales (such as on napkins) is often ignored.  It is recommended that calories be posted in all establishments on the menus. Posting caloric information could be a helpful step in promoting a healthier campus.