TORONTO - Ontario's doctors are congratulating Albany County, New York for passing a law that requires chain restaurants with ten or more locations nationally to post the calorie counts of items on their menus and menu boards. The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) is calling for similar legislation to be introduced in Ontario.

"There are more and more American jurisdictions passing menu board labelling legislation, and it's time for Ontario to step up and do the same," said Dr. Suzanne Strasberg, President of the OMA. "I think it's reasonable for parents and children in Ontario to have the information they need to choose healthier options when they are on the go. Ontario has a real chance to step up and be a leader in Canada."

The OMA has called for:

- Chain restaurants and school cafeterias to voluntarily post calories counts on their menus and menu boards;

- The provincial government to enact menu board labelling legislation to ensure that consumers throughout the province have equal access to this information; and

- An education campaign to help inform Ontarians about the impact of caloric intake on weight gain and obesity.

Municipal leaders at last week's Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Annual Conference overwhelmingly supported the OMA's call to action. Of the leaders surveyed, 96 per cent agreed that menu board labelling should be implemented in order to help combat obesity in Ontario.

"Concern over the growing rates of obesity across the province is a common thread amongst Ontario's municipal leaders and there is growing support for provincial action to help curb this epidemic," said Dr. Strasberg.

The OMA emphasizes that menu board labelling is nothing new. According to the Center for Science and the Public Interest, over 25 states in the US have implemented, passed or introduced legislation requiring calories to be posted on menus and menu boards and the US is close to requiring nation-wide menu board labelling. In early June, the National Restaurant Association in the United States agreed to support legislation that would require chain restaurants in the US with 20 or more locations to list calories on their menus and menu boards. As a result, menu board labelling is now included as part of the US federal health care reform bill.

In Ontario, the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board will become the first to take action on this initiative when it requires its cafeterias to display the calorie counts of all menu items beginning in September.