Parents' meal choices for their children at fast food and family restaurants with different menu labeling presentations

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVESThis study examined the effect of nutrition labeling formats on parents' food choices for their children at different restaurant types.SUBJECTS/METHODSAn online survey was conducted with 1,980 parents of children aged 3–12 years. Participants were randomly assigned to fast food or family restaurant scenarios, and one of four menu stimuli conditions: no labeling, low-calorie symbol (symbol), numeric value (numeric), and both low-calorie symbol and numeric value (symbol + numeric). Participants selected menu items for their children. Menu choices and total calories were compared by nutrition labeling formats in each type of the restaurant.RESULTSLow-calorie item selections were scored and a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted for an interaction effect between restaurant and labeling type. In the fast food restaurant group, parents presented with low-calorie symbols selected the lowest calorie items more often than those not presented with the format. Parents in the symbol + numeric condition selected significantly fewer calories (653 kcal) than those in the no labeling (677 kcal) or numeric conditions (674 kcal) (P = 0.006). In the family restaurant group, no significant difference were observed among different labeling conditions. A significant interaction between restaurant and labeling type on low-calorie selection score (F = 6.03, P < 0.01) suggests that the effect of nutrition labeling format interplays with restaurant type to jointly affect parents' food choices for their children.CONCLUSIONSThe provision of easily interpretable nutritional information format at fast food restaurants may encourage healthier food choices of parents for their children; however, the effects were negligible at family restaurants.

Impacts of menu information quality and nutrition information quality on technology acceptance characteristics and behaviors toward fast food restaurants' kiosk

“…Accordingly, the use of nutrition information allows consumers to control their nutrient intake, which has a positive effect on public health [20]. The implementation of nutritional information has been studied widely in many types of restaurants [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28].…”

Does labelling of healthy foods on menus using symbols promote better choices at the point-of-purchase?

“…The heterogeneity of studies makes it difficult to compare findings. Differences in the settings of studies, such as a restaurant, cafeteria or fast-food outlet, may result in different findings (22) . Although early research regarding menu labelling with symbols showed a significant increase in healthy choices purchased (23)(24)(25)(26) , more recently, with a larger number of studies available, the research suggests that the use of symbols on menus is inconclusive (27) .…”

Parental food choices for children when eating out: attitudes and impact of healthy choice menu labelling based on a hypothetical scenario

“…Overall, the menu was designed to be like a realworld menu. This method has been used successfully in previous food choice research (12) . Prices were not indicated to avoid any undue influence.…”

“…However, these observations are more likely to be made in hypothetical scenarios than in observational studies (11) . One experimental study used a hypothetical menu scenario that asked parents to make selections for their children and found that labelling lowered the energy content of meals selected in a fast food restaurant but not a family restaurant (12) . Few papers have explored labelling strategies targeting children's meals in a full-service restaurant environment rather than a fast food restaurant.…”