Massachusetts tries to fight obesity by listing calories

January 08, 2009

Massachusetts is trying to help people with their weight by making places that serve food tell how many calories in each dish. A calorie is really a unit of heat. When it comes to food, the calories we eat in a day should be the same as the number of calories we ‘burn’ in a day. For most adults, that’s about 2,000 calories. For kids, it’s less.

Lot’s of people order food at Dunkin’ Donuts or McDonald’s or KFC and don’t really know how many calories they are eating. One order of French fries is about 500 calories. That’s a big chunk of all the calories your body needs in one day. If we eat more calories than we burn, we gain weight. So with this new law, food places will have to tell you how many calories you are eating with every meal. That will help people make healthier choices and help prevent obesity.