Determinants of Nutrition Label Use Among College Students

The purpose of this research was to assess the frequency of nutrition label use among college students and its relationship to nutrition and label knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs regarding diet-disease relationships, and to determine factors predictive of frequent or infrequent label use. This study utilized a cross-sectional design. Volunteer participants included a convenience sample of 1,294 students from a large university in Texas. A 57-item survey instrument was used to assess nutrition label knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs about diet-disease relationships. Open-ended items were included to capture reasons for frequent/infrequent label use. Statistical analyses included frequency distributions, Pearson’s correlations, independent sample t-tests, and binary logistic regression. Label users had greater knowledge, more favorable attitudes, and more accurate perceptions of diet-disease relationships than nonusers. Females exhibited greater knowledge, more favorable attitudes, and more frequent label use than males. Health reasons, looking for specifi c information, weight control, and knowledge predicted frequent label use. Desire for certain foods, time constraints, and “don’t care” attitudes predicted infrequent use. These predictors of frequent/infrequent use suggest important points of intervention for increasing label use among selected groups of college students. Catherine N. Rasberry, PhD, CHES is assistant professor, Department of Health, Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Morehead State University, 200F Laughlin Health Building, Morehead, KY 40351; E-mail: c.rasberry@moreheadstate. edu. Beth H. Chaney, PhD, CHES, is lecturer, Division of Health Education, Texas A&M University, MS 4243, College Station, TX 77843-4243. Jeff M. Housman, PhD, CHES, is assistant professor, Department of Health and Nutrition Services, Idaho State University, Campus Box 8109, Pocatello, ID 83209-8109. Ranjita Misra, PhD, CHES, is associate professor, Division of Health Education, Texas A&M University, MS 4243, College Station, TX 77843-4243. Paula J. Miller, PhD, is clinical associate professor, Division of Health Education, Texas A&M University, MS 4243 College Station, TX 77843-4243. Research Articles Beginning in 1994, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began to require standardized labeling of most packaged foods, under the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) of 1990. This policy was designed to provide a consistent and reliable source of nutrition information and promote healthy food choices. 4 It was believed that providing such information to consumers would facilitate adoption of healthier nutrition practices. 5 Such a concept has been supported empirically 6, 7 and suggests that availability of nutrition labeling could lead to a decrease in the incidences of certain nutrition-related conditions. In Healthy People 2010, proper use of nutrition labels is one of the topics considered essential in nutrition education, and given the theoretical link between nutrition label use and improved health, several researchers have focused attention on factors related to label-reading behavior. A 1995 study found that both gender and educational level of respondents infl uence label-reading behavior. An additional study reported that label use among a sample of college students differed by gender. For males, beliefs in the trustworthiness of nutrition label information and diet-disease relationship (between fi ber and cancer) differed between label users and non-users. Another study examining knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported behaviors of college students regarding the NLEA showed prior nutrition education increased nutrition knowledge, and knowledge was positively associated with attitudes and label-reading behaviors. Although knowledge and attitudes associated with reading labels did not differ by gender, female college students were signifi cantly more likely to use nutrition labels than males. However, no study exists that provides a comprehensive examination of college students’ attitudes, knowledge, beliefs on diet-disease relationCatherine N. Rasberry, Beth H. Chaney, Jeff M. Housman, Ranjita Misra, and Paula J. Miller American Journal of Health Education — March/April 2007, Volume 38, No. 2 77 ship, and label-reading behavior. In light of this, the past four years of American Journal of Health Education (AJHE) issues (Volume 33, Issue 3; Volume 37, Issue 2) were examined for all nutrition-related articles. A total of nine research articles and seven teaching ideas were identified. None of the research articles focused specifi cally on label use, in spite of a recommendation by the Committee on Use of Dietary Reference Intakes in Nutrition Labeling that additional research focus on consumer use of nutrition labeling. Instead, AJHE topics included disordered eating, intuitive eating, and other nutrition subjects such as emotional eating, interventions, and dietary patterns. For the most part, articles focused on very specifi c areas of nutrition research rather than on general label-reading behaviors. This is of particular interest due to the foci of several teaching articles. Of the seven teaching ideas, four were related to facilitating proper nutrition label use (three of which focused on specifi c nutrients). This discrepancy between the focus of current research articles and the teaching articles may be indicative of a need for researchers to better address topics that practitioners face on regular basis, such as nutrition label use. The purpose of this research was to assess the frequency of nutrition label usage among college students and determine if label users differed from non-users in terms of their knowledge of nutrition labels and basic nutrition information, attitudes toward nutrition labels, and beliefs about dietdisease relationships (specifi cally, fat and heart disease, fi ber and cancer, and calcium and osteoporosis). In addition, factors associated with label use versus non-use were also examined. Four research questions guided this study: (1) What percentage of college students use nutrition labels when purchasing foods? (2) Do label users differ from nonusers in terms of nutrition label knowledge, attitudes toward nutrition labels, and beliefs about diet-disease relationships? (3) Is there a gender difference in knowledge, attitudes, beliefs about diet-disease relationships, and label reading behavior? (4) What factors predict the use of nutrition labels?