It seems that Los Angeles may possibly follow in the footsteps of New York, as a law that will force fast-food chains and restaurants to post calorie counts on their menus has been proposed.

Zev Yaroslavsky and Michael Antonovich, two members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, are to present an ordinance to the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors next week, ordinance that would require eatery chains to print menus and billboards with the number of calories for each item for consumption alongside with its price.

The proposed law is aimed to reduce obesity among LA residents and educate them about healthy food. It is already known that inhabitants of the largest city in the state of California are seriously preoccupied with their waistlines.

The percentage of obese adults in Los Angeles County rose from 14.3 percent in 1997 to 20.9 percent in 2005, the Department of Public Health said.

"The menu should be as informative of what its effect is on one's waistline as it is on their pocketbooks," supervisor Yaroslavsky asserted. "Not ingesting 800 calories in a meal makes a huge difference to one's health and quality of life," he added.

The city’s calorie posting rule would apply only to chain restaurants that have 15 or more outlets on a national scale. Also, New York has a similar regulation, which implies a fine that ranges from $200 to $2,000 for chain eateries which fail to comply with the rule.

"People don't want to be fat or obese. Left to their own devices, people want to be healthy," said Yaroslavsky, who fought with obesity in the past. "Menu labeling is a powerful education tool. And information is power in the dietary world."