However, mandated nutrition labels have been criticized for being too complex for many consumers to understand and use (4,6). Label users also tend to report more healthful dietary practices than nonusers (5). Many consumers check food labels when buying food, either to choose healthy foods or to lose weight (4). The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 (2), which required nearly all packaged foods to carry the NFP label, was intended to allow consumers to make healthy food choices and ultimately reduce their risk of illness and death from diet-related chronic diseases (3). The Nutrition Facts panel (NFP) - sometimes referred to as the “cornerstone of nutrition labeling” (1) - was developed to provide US consumers with the information they need to follow dietary recommendations. Schools have a role in teaching skills, such as mathematics, needed for nutrition label understanding. However, some tasks still require the ability to perform calculations (eg, percentage daily value of calories). The 2016 revised NFP labels may address some deficits in consumer understanding by eliminating the need to perform certain calculations (eg, total calories per package). Many consumers have difficulty interpreting nutrition labels, and label understanding correlates with self-reported dietary behaviors. Higher scores for label understanding were associated with consuming more vegetables and less sugar-sweetened soda, although only the association with soda consumption remained significant after adjusting for demographic factors. Regression analyses tested associations among label understanding, demographic characteristics, and self-reported dietary behaviors.Īpproximately 24% of people could not determine the calorie content of the full ice-cream container, 21% could not estimate the number of servings equal to 60 g of carbohydrates, 42% could not estimate the effect on daily calorie intake of foregoing 1 serving, and 41% could not calculate the percentage daily value of calories in a single serving. Participants reported their intake of sugar-sweetened soda, fruits, and vegetables. ![]() Participants viewed an ice cream nutrition label and answered 4 questions that tested their ability to apply basic arithmetic and understanding of percentages to interpret the label. ![]() We examined US adults’ understanding of a Nutrition Facts panel (NFP), which requires health literacy (ie, prose, document, and quantitative literacy skills), and the association between label understanding and dietary behavior.ĭata were from the Health Information National Trends Survey, a nationally representative survey of health information seeking among US adults (N = 3,185) conducted from September 6, 2013, through December 30, 2013.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |