Abstract
Objective
To explore predictors of intention of college students to use calorie labels on fast-food
menus and differences in calories ordered after viewing calorie information.
Design
Quasi-experimental design. Participants selected a meal from a menu without calorie
labels, selected a meal from the same menu with calorie labels, and completed a survey
that assessed demographics, dietary habits, Theory of Planned Behavior constructs,
and potential barriers to use of calorie labeling.
Setting
A southern university.
Participants
Undergraduate university students (n = 97).
Main Outcome Measures
Predictors of intention to use calorie labels and whether calories selected from the
nonlabeled menu differed from the labeled menu.
Analysis
Confirmatory factor analysis, exploratory factor analysis, multiple regression, and
paired t tests.
Results
Participants ordered significantly fewer calories (P = .02) when selecting from the labeled menu vs the menu without labels. Attitudes
(P = .006), subjective norms (P < .001), and perceived behavioral control (P = .01) predicted intention to use calorie information but did not predict a difference
in the calories ordered. Hunger (P = .03) and cost (P = .04) were barriers to using the calorie information.
Conclusions and Implications
If students can overcome barriers, calorie labeling could provide information that
college students need to select lower-calorie items at fast-food restaurants.
Key Words
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessSNEB Member Login
SNEB Members, full access to the journal is a member benefit. Login via the SNEB Website to access all journal content and features.Subscribe:
Subscribe to Journal of Nutrition Education and BehaviorAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
National Restaurant Association. 2015 Restaurant Industry Pocket Factbook. 2015. https://www.restaurant.org/Downloads/PDFs/News-Research/research/Factbook2015_LetterSize-FINAL.pdf. Accessed July 23, 2015.
- Nutrient contribution of food away from home.in: Frazão E. American’s Eating Habits: Changes and Consequences. US Dept of Agriculture, Washington, DC1999: 213-242
- Restaurant menus: calories, calorie density, and serving size.Am J Prev Med. 2012; 43: 249-255
- Attacking the obesity epidemic: the potential health benefits of providing nutrition information in restaurants.Am J Public Health. 2006; 96: 1669-1675
- Reducing portion sizes to prevent obesity: a call to action.Am J Prev Med. 2012; 43: 565-568
United States Food and Drug Administration. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111–148, Sec. 4205–Nutrition labeling of standard menu items at chain restaurants. March 23, 2010. http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2010-08-25/pdf/2010-21065.pdf. Accessed July 23, 2015.
- Weight changes, exercise, and dietary patterns during freshman and sophomore years of college.J Am Coll Health. 2005; 53: 245-251
- Purchasing behavior and calorie information at fast-food chains in New York City, 2007.Am J Public Health. 2008; 98: 1457-1459
- Changes in energy content of lunchtime purchases from fast food restaurants after introduction of calorie labelling: cross sectional customer surveys.BMJ. 2011; 343: d4464
- New York City’s fight over calorie labeling: a two year struggle ultimately proves that innovation in food regulation is entirely possible at the local level.Health Affairs. 2009; 28: w1098-w1109
- Mandatory menu labeling in one fast-food chain in King County, Washington.Am J Prev Med. 2011; 40: 122-127
- Helping consumers make more healthful food choices: consumer views on modifying food labels and providing point-of-purchase nutrition information at quick-service restaurants.J Nutr Educ Behav. 2007; 39: 157-163
- Knowledge, attitudes and potential response to menu labelling in an urban public health clinic population.Public Health Nutr. 2009; 13: 550-555
- Consumer purchasing patterns in response to calorie labeling legislation in New York City.Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2011; 8: 51https://doi.org/10.1186/1479-5868-8-51
- Promoting healthy choices: information vs. convenience.Am Econ J Appl Econ. 2010; 2: 164-178
- The roles of gender and motivation as moderators of the effects of calorie and nutrition information provision on away-from-home foods.J Consum Aff. 2009; 43: 249-273
- Does calorie information promote lower calorie fast food choices among college students?.J Adolesc Health. 2009; 44: 84-86
- The theory of planned behavior.Organ Behav Hum Decis Process. 1991; 50: 182
- Taking an undergraduate nutrition course results in favorable attitudes toward a healthful diet and improved intake of several key nutrients.Fam Consum Sci Res J. 2009; 38: 3-10
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Questionnaire. Hyattsville, MD: US Dept of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007-2008. http://wwwn.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/search/nhanes07_08.aspx. Accessed July 24, 2015.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Data. Hyattsville, MD: US Dept of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009-2010. http://wwwn.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/search/nhanes09_10.aspx. Accessed July 24, 2015.
- Does involvement in healthy eating among university students differ based on exercise status and reasons for exercise?.Calif J Health Promot. 2007; 5: 106-119
- Psychosocial and environmental determinants of eating behaviors, physical activity, and weight change among college students: a qualitative analysis.J Am Coll Health. 2011; 59: 531-538
- A survey of dietary and exercise habits and perceived barriers to following a healthy lifestyle in a college population.Californian J Health Promot. 2004; 2: 10-19
- Why eat at fast food restaurants: reported reasons among frequent customers.J Am Diet Assoc. 2008; 108: 2066-2070
- Differences exist in the eating habits of university men and women at fast food restaurants.Nutr Res. 2006; 26: 524-530
- Constructing Questionnaires Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior: A Manual for Health Services Researchers.University of Newcastle, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK2004
- A Beginner’s Guide to Structural Equation Modeling.2nd ed. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ2004
- Multivariate Data Analysis.5th ed. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ1998
- Confirmatory factor analysis of the Child Feeding Questionnaire: a measure of parental attitudes, beliefs, and practices about child feeding and obesity proneness.Appetite. 2001; 36: 201-210
- Comparative fit indexes in structural equation models.Psychol Bull. 1990; 88: 588-606
- Alternative ways of assessing model fit.in: Bollen K. Long J. Testing Structural Equation Models. Sage, Newbury Park, CA1993: 136-192
- Exploratory or confirmatory factor analysis? Proceedings of the Thirty-first Annual SAS Users Group International Conference.SAS Institute, Cary, NC2006
- A Step-by-Step Approach to Using SAS for Univariate and Multivariate Statistics.2nd ed. SAS Institute, Inc, Cary, NC2005
- Psychometric Theory.McGraw-Hill Higher, Inc, New York, NY1994
National Institutes of Health. The Practical Guide: Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults (NIH Pub No. 00–4084). October 2000. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/prctgd_c.pdf. Accessed July 24, 2015.
- The relationship between self-rated health status and the overall quality of dietary intake of US adolescents.J Am Diet Assoc. 2006; 106: 1450-1453
- Students cluster into 4 groups according to the factors influencing their dietary intake.J Am Diet Assoc. 1998; 98: 1464-1467
- Examining the role of financial factors, resources and skills in predicting food security status among college students.Int J Consumer Sci. 2014; 38: 374-384
- Perceived facilitators of and barriers to healthful eating among university students.Can J Diet Pract Res. 2010; 71: e28-e33
Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 14, 2015
Accepted:
September 22,
2015
Footnotes
Conflict of Interest Disclosure: The authors' conflict of interest disclosures can be found online with this article on www.jneb.org.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
