Food label education. How female students check and use food labels.

摘要

This study investigated the relationship between the dietary habits of female students and how they check and use food labels. Most of the female students looked carefully at nutrition labels and used the information to select foods. However, fewerof them actually compared the nutrient amounts with their dietary allowances or adjusted their foods intake. About 40-50% of those who carefully checked ingredients or additives did not raise "safety" as the main reason for their selection. Since the habit of checking food labels was not effectively related to the selection of safe foods, education in label use is strongly required. Both the checking and use of food labels were related to dietary habits. Consequently, clarification of required dietary habits before learning how to use food labels and basic nutritional knowledge are implied to be effective for education in label use. The dietary habit scores were higher for those who often checked and used food labels, suggesting that the use of food labels resulted in better dietary habits.