• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.239-254
• /
• 2010

This study investigated the use and understanding of food and nutrition labels in 498 female adolescents (middle school students: MS 248, high school students: HS 250) in Gyeonggi-do. Fifty percent of the MS and 47.2% of the HS read food labels, and the most common reasons for reading labels were to find a product's expiration date and price. The food label information considered most important by the subjects was the name of the manufacturing company and expiration date. Over 80% of the subjects read nutrition labels. The MS read nutrition labels to find nutrients and their amounts in foods, while the HS read labels mostly in an effort to control body weight. These subjects gave more attention to calories and fat, the nutrients related to body weight, than to other nutrients. The subjects were highly aware of the necessity and positive effects of nutrition labels, because they believed labels could make it easier for them to choose healthy foods. However, scores for understanding nutrition labels showed the subjects failed to understand label information accurately. Generally, the MS showed better dietary behaviors than HS. But the HS had significantly higher scores than MS for the item "know relative weight with height." Those that read food labels had significantly better BMIs, dietary behaviors, and awareness and understanding of nutrition labels. There were significant positive relationships among awareness & understanding of nutrition labels and subjects' dietary behaviors. The study findings can be utilized to better plan nutrition education programs aiming to improve use and awareness of food and nutrition labels among adolescents.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.299-308
• /
• 2002

The purposes of this study were to examine understanding, attitudes, and behaviors of college students regarding the nutrition labels of food package and the relations among these factors and demographic background such as educational experience with label, major, home place and parents' status. The study was surveyed 471 undergraduate students enrolled in general education classes at local university. Generally, college students could understand nutrition label. Nutrition related class in college didn't influence Nutrition label understanding, use and purchasing behavior. Students whose mothers with higher than college education level and professional work showed strong dependability on nutrition label. Label use, understanding and purchasing behaviors significantly associated with gender of subjects. All the subjects looked at the amount of sodium most frequently among all the nutrients listed on the food package(88.8%). Of all the food labels, the manufacturing date(25.1%) was considered the most important and the refund and exchange(12.9%) was considered the least important information. This paper suggested that nutrition education program for college students needs to be developed in series from elementary school curriculum and to enhance the use of nutrition labels.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.417-425
• /
• 2007

The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of nutrition label use and its association with demographic, weight control related factors, and diet among female adults in the Seoul area. Also, the study subjects' comprehension of nutrition labels was examined using objective measures. 279 females, between ages of 20 and 49, participated in this study. 66% of the participants reported to always or often use nutrition labels when purchasing foods. Nutrition label use was significantly higher among participants who were interested in losing weight and have more knowledge on nutrition, but significantly lower among subjects who were underweight (p < 0.05). Label users had higher fruit consumption and lower intake of fatty foods and snacks (p < 0.01). Only 20% of participants answered correctly regarding questions about the total amount of calories and fats contained in the entire food package tested, and only 15% answered correctly on questions about understanding of the % daily value. Comprehension of nutrition labels were significantly lower among participants who were less educated, underweight, and married (p < 0.05). In conclusion, our study suggests that proper use of nutrition labels may improve food choices and enable healthy dietary practices. Further efforts are needed to provide public a nutrition education program on how to read nutrition labels. Modifications of nutrition labels to make it easier to understand by the public should also be considered.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.51-59
• /
• 2009

This study was performed to investigate the effect of food and nutrition label education on the perception and utilization of nutrition labels on food packaging, and to suggest the importance and necessity of food and nutrition label education in the school curriculum. 811 junior-high school students participated in this study and completed self-administered questionnaires regarding general characteristics, and the perception and utilization of nutrition labels. Knowledge of nutrition labels was tested by 13 questions on the questionnaire. Data was analyzed (using SAS package program) based on the educational experience with nutrition labels. Significant differences in each variable were tested using the $X^2$-test and t-test. Students who had learned about the food and nutrition labeling system had more knowledge of nutrition labels and were more likely to check the nutrition label before purchasing food. In addition, students who had been educated about food and nutrition labels in the school curriculum had a significantly higher understanding and recognition of the nutrition label system. These results suggest that education concerning the food and nutrition label system increased the students' interest in nutrition labels and helped them choose healthy food. Therefore, it is necessary to include an education program about food and nutrition labels in the school curriculum to help students use label information and make healthy dietary choices.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.492-500
• /
• 2010

This study conducted a questionnaire survey of 482 male and female second graders in middle schools located in Cheongju, Chungcheongbukdo. This study lays its purpose on establishing the nutrition facts labeling system by understanding eating habits and analyzing the actual state of reading nutrition facts labels and degrees of understanding them among middle school students, and helping them to engage in right food purchasing activities and through it result in developing sound eating habits by providing them with basic material to be employed to actively utilize nutrition facts for choosing and buying healthy foods. As a result of surveying regarding the actual state of reading food labels, regarding degrees of recognition of food labels, it was revealed that 91.1% of female students recognized them, while 42.1% of male students did not recognize them, indicating lower levels of recognition among the male group. Regarding reasons for not checking food labels, 49.2% indicated habitual purchasing, followed by poor contents in the label(20.2%), ununderstandable contents(17.7%), and the lower reliability of the contents(6.9%). As a result of surveying regarding the actual state of reading nutrition facts labels, in recognition of nutrition facts labels, female rather than male students showed higher degrees of recognition, and degrees of recognition were found to differ according to parents' total income and mothers' educational attainments.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.858-865
• /
• 2015

The study was carried out to investigate the efficacy of current nutrition labeling of processed foods and examine awareness among university students of nutrition information given current nutrition labels, and also awareness of the one-serving size of snacks that come in differently sized packages. A total of 100 students in Chungbuk, Korea participated in this study. About 60% of the subjects knew about nutrition labeling; however, a very small percentage (11%) of the subjects reported an experience of being educated about nutrition labeling. Also, just 32% of the students checked nutrition labels when they purchased processed foods. When understanding of nutrition information on labels of snacks in differently sized packaging was tested, over 80% of the subjects understood nutrition information accurately. Five different package sizes were studied. Of these 5, packages containing about 200% of one standard serving showed the highest rate of misunderstanding of total energy contents per container. Interestingly, the students most strongly preferred containers that contained 300% of one standard serving. From these results, we conclude that students consider the current recommendation for a serving size to be small, which may be related to misreading of nutrition labels of snacks that come in packages containing less than 300% of one standard serving size. To improve accurate understanding of nutrition labels of snacks, total package labels or dual column labels on packages containing less than 300% of one standard serving size should be considered.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.63-70
• /
• 2015

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Use of nutrition labels in food selection is recommended for consumers. The aim of this study is to examine factors, mainly beliefs explaining nutrition label use in female college students based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). SUBJECTS/METHODS: The subjects were female college students from a university in Seoul, Korea. The survey questionnaire was composed of items examining general characteristics, nutrition label use, behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, corresponding motivation to comply, and control beliefs. The subjects (n = 300) responded to the questionnaire by self-report, and data from 275 students were analyzed using t-test or ${\chi}^2$-test. RESULTS: The results showed that 37.8% of subjects were nutrition label users. Three out of 15 behavioral beliefs differed significantly by nutrition label use. Nutrition label users agreed more strongly on the benefits of using nutrition labels including 'comparing and selecting better foods' (P < 0.001), 'selecting healthy foods' (P < 0.05). The negative belief of 'annoying' was stronger in non-users than in users (P < 0.001). Three out of 7 sources (parents, siblings, best friend) were important in nutrition label use. Twelve out of 15 control beliefs differed significantly by nutrition label use. These included beliefs regarding constraints of using nutrition labels (e.g., time, spending money for healthy foods) and lack of nutrition knowledge (P < 0.001). Perceived confidence in understanding and applying the specifics of nutrition labels in food selection was also significantly related to nutrition label use (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study found that the beliefs, especially control beliefs, suggested in the TPB were important in explaining nutrition label use. To promote nutrition label use, nutrition education might focus on increasing perceived control over constraints of using nutrition labels, acquiring skills for checking nutrition labels, as well as the benefits of using nutrition labels and receiving support from significant others for nutrition label use.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.942-951
• /
• 2015

This study compared nutrition knowledge, dietary behaviors, and checking behaviors of food and nutrition labels between Korean and Chinese university students to obtain useful data for development of an education program for healthy dietary life. The data were collected by a self-administered questionnaire in Korea and China. Frequencies, t tests, ${\chi}^2$ tests, Cronbach's ${\alpha}$, and Pearson's correlation coefficient analysis were conducted by SPSS Win. V.21.0. The levels of nutrition knowledge and dietary behaviors were not high. Korean students showed higher percentage of correct answers about nutrition knowledge and levels of dietary behaviors than Chinese students. The means of degree of checking contents of food labels were 3.46 points for Korean students and 3.11 for Chinese students. Both groups of students showed the highest degree of checking milk and dairy products. The degree of understanding nutritive component labeling of Chinese students was higher than that of Korean students. Both groups of students showed higher than normal levels of confidence about nutritive component labeling and necessity of education on food and nutrition labels. The most preferred method of education on food and nutrition labels was broadcast media for both groups of students. In addition, there were significant correlations among nutrition knowledge, dietary behaviors, checking degree of food labels, checking degree of nutritive component labeling, and experience of nutrition education.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.725-733
• /
• 2010

This study examined the understanding and use of information on nutrition labels based on one serving size among female consumers above the age of 20 in Seoul area. According to the survey, 69.9% of respondents were aware of the current system of nutrition labeling based on one serving size, and 51.8% of the respondents expressed their dissatisfaction with the system because the nutrition labels were difficult to understand or appeared unreliable. The nutrition label literacy of the consumers varied with respect to different packaging units. The respondents were likely to be less accurate in calculating the expected caloric intake when only portions of a multi-serving package were used. Initially 69.0% of respondents reported that they had read the nutrition label before purchasing a product but 91.9% of respondents said that they would check the label after learning how to read the label properly. It is very important to make consumers aware that the labels are very reliable sources of nutrition information. A public education campaign on the use of nutrition labels should focus on developing the consumers' ability and skills in using the label information when choosing foods.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.301-310
• /
• 2002

In order to investigate the use and recognition of nutrition labelings of processed foods which adolescents frequently purchase, 277(boys 125, girls 152) middle school students and their parents were conveniently selected from the west Chonan City, and were surveyed by self-recording questionnaire on June, 2000. Nutrition labels were indicated only in 14.9% of 222 processed snack foods. At purchasing foods the students considered taste most importantly and in turn price, quantity, and nutrition. Of the subjects 79.4% of students and 89.2% of parents had experiences of reading nutrition labels, and the reasons were mainly to just know contained nutrients(76.8%, 72.1%, respectively) and for their health care(35.9%, 47.8%, respectively). The main reason not to confirm nutrition labels was that they were not interested in nutrition labels. But too small size and rudeness or hardness of understanding was also pointed out as a reason of not reading nutrition labels. The students ranked mineral, protein, and carbohydrate as the most important three nutrients at labelings, while the parents ranked protein, mineral, and calorie. Cholesterol, dietary fibers, and sodium were shown the lowest rank in both students and parents. Significant nutrients for specific processed foods did not well recognised in the students. Conclusively, nutrition labelings should be applied to all processed foods which students frequently buy, particularly in clear and large size. Also it is necessary to prepare education programs for both students and parents about accurate recognition of nutrition knowledge about processed foods and how to use nutrition labels.