Legislation has been passed in New York City, California, and Seattle (woot!) that requires all chain restaurants to list the calories of each menu item on the menu, or on its own separate menu. Many other states are also considering making the change.

I live in Seattle, so I am used to to going into my Starbucks and seeing the calorie count for everything next to each item. For those of you that have never seen these changes, it’s confusing. Half the time you think the cost is the calorie content and vice versa (which, with Starbucks, they are pretty interchangeable).

I feel that its a start to curbing the obesity crisis, but there are definitely some flaws: new items take forever to be listed, so in order to find the information, you have to check the same websites you normally would to find calorie content, and they usually list everything’s count in its plainest form. (minus condiments, or other additions that you would have to specially ask to have removed, leading people to believe they are consuming less calories than they actually are) Personally, it completely ruins going out to dinner for me because even though I eat healthy 80% of the time, and deserve a little splurge on meals out, that quadruple digit calorie count staring me in the face puts a damper on the fun. I realize I’m probably in the minority on that one though.

I know, basically, the calorie count of most foods, and I am nutritionally minded, so I actually pay attention. When they announced the change, I have a feeling that it would play out like this: those who care about calories, already know the content, or at least what is good and bad, and those who that info is meant to help, don’t really care enough to look. Is someone that eats a Big Mac for lunch every day really going to change their ways because they see the actual number of calories in it? They have to already know it’s bad for them.

But, I like to think if it helps even one person, it’s worth it. So has it? According to MSNBC, not a single state who passed the legislation has yet seen obesity rates fall. Does that mean we should can it? I don’t think so. Like anything, the more knowledge that is out there, the more aware people will become.

There is some good news, too. Many restaurants are receiving a lot of flack for their ridiculous menu items containing days worth of calories and grams of fat, and have actually pulled them from the menu as a consequence. Small steps.