Nutrition labeling reduces valuations of food through multiple health and taste channels

Status and associated factors of food and nutrition literacy among young adults aged 15-44 years in Shenzhen City, China

Background

Food and nutrition literacy (FNL) plays an important role in young adults' dietary habits and nutrition. This study aimed to investigate FNL status and its associated factors among young adults aged 15-44 years in Shenzhen.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey of 5,390 participants was conducted in June 2021. FNL was measured using the Food and Nutrition Literacy Questionnaire for Chinese Adults (FNLQ). A generalized linear model was employed to analyze the factors associated with FNL.

Results

The median FNL score (total score = 100) was 68.00, which was below the adequate level of 80. FNL was divided into the two different domains of knowledge and skills, with significantly different scoring rate of 85.30 and 67.77%, respectively. The overall proportion of respondents with adequate FNL was 19.52%. The FNL score was significantly higher among the participants who were female (β = 2.665; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.031-3.299) and with higher education levels (β ranging from 5.632 [CI: 3.845-7.419] to 10.756 [CI: 8.973-12.538]), healthcare-related work experience (β = 4.197; CI: 3.557-4.837) and a higher economic status (β ranging from 0.753 [CI: 0.079-1.426] to 6.217 [CI: 5.208-7.227]). Those who were divorced or with an unknown marital status (β = -8.438; CI: -9.701, -7.175), abnormal body mass index (thin [β = -2.115; CI: -3.063, -1.166], overweight [β = -1.427; CI: -2.254, -0.600]), and suffering from chronic diseases (single disease [β = -3.483; CI: -4.485, -2.480], multimorbidity [β = -5.119; CI: -5.912, -4.327]) had significantly lower FNL scores.

Conclusion

Generally, the level of FNL among young adults in Shenzhen, China, was relatively low. Thus, nutrition education programs targeted at promoting improved FNL status call for additional emphasis, especially in subgroups with lower scores.

Understanding and Use of Nutrition Labels of Prepackaged Food by University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study in Chongqing, China

Object: The correct use of nutrition labels for prepackaged food helps university students develop healthy eating habits and prevent the occurrence of chronic non-communicable diseases. This study evaluates the understanding and use of nutrition labels of prepackaged food by university students in four different fields of study in Chongqing, China. Methods: This cross-sectional study used an online survey platform conducted in July 2022 in colleges and universities in Chongqing, China. The convenience sampling method was used to select students in four different fields of study, including medicine, humanities, science and technology, and arts and sports. Ten questions were used to assess participants’ understanding of nutrition labels. A score of six or above (60%) indicates that the respondent has a basic understanding of the nutritional labels of prepackaged food. Descriptive statistics and generalized linear models (GLMs) were used to assess participants’ understanding and use of nutrition labels for prepackaged foods and their influencing factors. Results: A total of 1262 valid questionnaires was collected. The average age of the participants was 21.8 years (SD: 2.43), 50.1% were male, 80.8% were ethnic Han, and 50.9% were from rural areas. Only 21.3% of the university students in Chongqing had a good understanding of the nutrition labels of prepackaged food, where medical students were the highest (39.9%) and science and engineering students were the lowest (15.6%). Gender, ethnicity, grade, major, and whether received courses related to nutrition were influential factors in the understanding and use of nutrition labels of prepackaged food. Medical students also had more positive attitudes toward nutritional labels of prepackaged food. Conclusions: Understanding and use of nutrition labels for prepackaged food by university students in Chongqing are unsatisfactory. Student’s major was a significant influencing factor in nutrition label comprehension, with medical students having the greatest understanding. Based on these results, we suggest that nutrition and health courses should be popularized among non-medical students to narrow the differences between different fields of study. For university students in all fields of study, education and publicity of nutrition labels of prepackaged food are needed, not only in the classroom but also in daily life.

A Neuroeconomics Approach to Obesity

Obesity is a heterogeneous condition that is affected by physiological, behavioral, and environmental factors. Value-based decision making is a useful framework for integrating these factors at the individual level. The disciplines of behavioral economics and reinforcement learning provide tools for identifying specific cognitive and motivational processes that may contribute to the development and maintenance of obesity. Neuroeconomics complements these disciplines by studying the neural mechanisms underlying these processes. We surveyed recent literature on individual decision characteristics that are most frequently implicated in obesity: discounting the value of future outcomes, attitudes toward uncertainty, and learning from rewards and punishments. Our survey highlighted both consistent and inconsistent behavioral findings. These findings underscore the need to examine multiple processes within individuals to identify unique behavioral profiles associated with obesity. Such individual characterization will inform future studies on the neurobiology of obesity as well as the design of effective interventions that are individually tailored.

Analysis of Factors Influencing Food Nutritional Labels Use in Nanjing, China

A correct use of food nutrition la bels benefits consumers in pursuing balanced diets. As a result, we conducted interviews in Nanjing, China and randomly sampled 427 respondents. Further, we used both descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression to assess their perception of food nutrition label use. The results indicated that the current situation is not ideal in Nanjing. Only 7.26% of respondents use labeling consistently. Data on purchasing experience, comprehension, nutritional value, work sector, chronic disease, diet awareness, nutritional knowledge, and age were statistically significant. Conversely, taste and primary shopper categories negatively influenced food nutrition label use. In light of the above results, we propose policy recommendations to promote consumers' use of food nutrition labels. These are also beneficial in improving diet and relieving chronic diseases.

Nutrient-specific system versus full fact panel: Testing the benefits of nutrient-specific front-of-package labels in a student sample

Current food labels include comprehensive nutritional information, but evaluations of their effects on judgments of nutritional quality and food choice are scarce. Building on previous empirical research that demonstrated that amount and complexity of information is negatively related to judgment accuracy, this study used an experimental design to evaluate nutritional information labels of varying complexity. Lens model analysis (Brunswik, 1952; Cooksey, 1996; Hammond, 1955; Stewart, 1976) was used to study the judgment process. Nutrition judgment accuracy was assessed by comparing nutrition judgments to a nutrition expert criterion (NuVal^®) in three package labeling conditions. The conditions were: no nutritional information highlighted; nutrients highly related to nutritional quality highlighted using a front-of-package (FOP) label; and nutrients unrelated to nutritional quality highlighted using a FOP label. Findings indicate a limited role of FOP labeling in increasing judgment accuracy, consistency of nutritional information usage, and food choice. Implications for understanding labeling efforts to improve food choices are discussed.