Calorie counts on menus fill me with fear and shame for all the wrong reasons

“Please tell me you’ve eaten properly today.”

For most people this is a light-hearted comment, a way of finding out if you’ve actually taken the time to stop what you were doing and eat, but for some this simple request brings out fear. It’s a split-second choice between lying or admitting you’ve been skipping meals, between a smiling nod and sharing that you’ve been stashing snacks to binge on in private, away from watching eyes.

Food, along with the fears, situations, and worries it brings, is one of the biggest things people struggling with eating disorders dread - and that feeling is about to get so much worse in restaurants. As of Wednesday, April 6, large businesses are required to display the calorie counts of all items on menus alongside the daily recommended calorie intakes.

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For most people, this change is relatively minor, doing little to change dining habits other than offer diners “more informed, healthier choices”, but for people like me these tiny little numbers are damaging reminders of a very serious mental health condition. There are thousands of people in the UK who let calories rule their lives, with countless more displaying dangerous tendencies of eating disorders who could easily fall into the same horrifying habits if they’re pushed towards the obsession.

You might think you don’t know anyone with an eating disorder but the NHS estimates that one in every six adults is at risk of developing an eating disorder, so statistically one person at your table will look at those calorie counts and see something much more terrifying than a number. Beat, a national