Clinical Nutrition Research

The Korean Society of Clinical Nutrition (한국임상영양학회)
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Continuous Postpandemic Increase in the Use of Nutrition Fact Labels Among Korean Adults: A Weighted Multiyear Analysis of a Nationwide Survey

  • Jung Min Cho (K-Food Industry Research Institute, College of Culture and Tourism, Jeonju University)
  • Received : 2024.09.03
  • Accepted : 2024.10.24
  • Published : 2024.10.30
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Abstract

Nutrition fact labels (NFLs) have advantages because they are an intuitive tool that provides unified information regulated by the government and does not require any devices or special skills. During pandemic, with increased interest in information about healthy food choices and optimum nutrition, frequent exposure to NFLs on pre-packaged foods and dietary supplements may have helped consumers become aware of and/or use NFLs. We aimed to evaluate NFL usage changes from the pre- and early to the late pandemic years in the Korean adult population, using data from the Korean Community Health Survey (3-year total respondents n = 687,610) conducted from 2019 to 2021. NFL awareness, effect, and utilization ratios in each subgroup (sex, age, diabetes mellitus/hypertension, subjective health status, and physical activity) were analyzed for the 3 years by the cross-tabulation test of weighted complex sample analysis. Despite the declining awareness of NFLs in the Korean population, the proportion of individuals who were affected by the NFL content in the entire population and the utilization ratio among those who were aware of NFLs increased continuously during the early and late pandemic periods. Thus, Nutrition experts and policy-makers need to increase efforts to maintain interest in NFLs that emerged during the pandemic. NFLs, a conventional but well-regulated and effective tool, may have enabled the Korean population to make healthy food choices during the pandemic.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (2022R1I1A1A01066215).

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