Residents slow to pay attention to calorie counts

The Department of Health has started doling out fines to restaurants that have not posted calorie counts as required by new regulations. But in the South Bronx neighborhood of Mott Haven, it is the customers—not the restaurants--who are shirking the responsibility for their health.

The regulations, requiring restaurants with 15 or more franchises nationwide to prominently post calorie data on menu boards, are part of an effort to help customers make informed food choices and so begin addressing the citywide issues of obesity and diabetes.

But in Mott Haven, where, according to a Bronx District Public Health report, one in four adults is obese and the adult diabetes rate is nearly double that of New York City overall, the regulations appear to have had little impact on the health choices of residents.

“I don’t really pay much attention to it,” said Quick Mack, 61, glancing at the calorie counts now listed on the Kentucky Fried Chicken menu. “I’m not the type of person who counts calories every day.”

While eating Honey BBQ Wings, Mack said his motto is “as long as you enjoy it,” and added, “You never know what you’re getting at a fast-food restaurant—that’s the reality of life. It’s up to you to accept that or not.”

KFC manager Suzette Stewart, 34, said most customers agree with Mack’s lackadaisical attitude toward the new postings. “It doesn’t matter the calorie count, they still buy,” she said. “They might say, ‘Oh my gosh! I can’t believe it,’ but they still buy.”

She said customer trends have not changed since the regulations took full effect two months ago. The two-piece breast and wing meal (1,470 calories for $6.69) has remained the East 149th Street location’s most popular menu item, as “People are more concerned with price than calories,” she said.

And at the McDonald’s on Third Avenue, where window displays boast calorie-laden value meals, undaunted customers continue to flock to the restaurant. “I don’t come very often, so when I do come, I don’t pay attention to calories,” said Philip Dimiba, 42, whose Chipotle BBQ Bacon Burger cost him 770 calories.

The issue, residents say, is that fast food is simply a reality of life in a low-income neighborhood like Mott Haven. And so while health effects of the regulations have yet to be formally assessed, eating habits don’t appear to have changed.

“You’ll notice, every corner has a fast-food restaurant,” said Joyice Guity, 18, looking around the Hub commercial district. “People are used to fast-food restaurants around here, so they’re not going to stop and think about it. They’re just going to buy. Numbers or no numbers, people are still going to buy McDonald’s,” she said.

Kennedy Fried Chicken manager Javed Mohammad, 24, agreed. “People knew it before—they knew fast food was bad for them, that it has more calories, that they shouldn’t eat it as much or every day, but they still eat it,” he said. Sales have not decreased since the regulations went into effect, he added: “Business is slow everywhere—not just because of calories.”

But hope remains, even for a community seemingly set in its ways and constrained by its options. For according to Saji Yasmin, a 23-year-old employee at the Dunkin’ Donuts on East 149th Street, doughnut sales have decreased. “People say, ‘Oh my God, there’s too much calories! I can’t take two, I’ll take one!”