Promoting public health through nutrition labeling - a study in Brazil

Abstract

BackgroundFood and nutrition education allows individuals to build knowledge and values, reframe their food practices, and develop strategies for a healthy diet. Food choices within the diet represent a determinant of individual health status. Regardless of the food quality, the consumption of calorie-dense foods does not promote better health conditions for the population and can worsen emerging health problems. The present study aimed to describe and analyze the effectiveness of educational activities related to nutrition information for enabling healthy food choices, as a tool to promote public health.MethodsTo describe and analyze the effectiveness of an educational intervention regarding nutrition labeling as a tool to promote healthy food choices, 702 individuals were enrolled in the present quasi-experimental study. The Wilcoxon and McNemar tests were used to compare the pre- and post-intervention data, and a p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsOf the 702 participants (mean age, 26.6 years), 17.4 % were male, and 82.6 % were female. The education level was high school for 53.2 % of the participants. The mean income was R$ 1969.54 (about 500 USD). In the pre-test, 55.8 % of the respondents reported consulting the nutrition information provided on packaged foods. At the post-test, 72.0 % of respondents reported consulting this information (p < 0.001; Table 1). However, the change in the response regarding the purchase of packaged products was borderline significant.ConclusionsThe results indicate that the intervention was feasible and acceptable and improved knowledge regarding the role of nutrition labeling in promoting healthy eating. These results support the importance of an educational intervention to reinforce healthy food choices.

Impact of educational intervention in promoting KAP of food label information to make healthier food choices among adolescents in Bangalore City

“…In the pre-test, 56% of subjects reported reading food labels always or most of the time, but after the intervention, this rose to 74.5%, consistent with the finding of Souza SM et al ,[ 19 ] which was similar, with 55.8% of respondents referring to nutritional information on packaged foods before test and 72.0% of respondents referring to that information posttest.…”

Are food allergic consumers ready for informative precautionary allergen labelling?

“…Thirty days after the first initial questionnaire participants were asked to complete the same questionnaire but this time the participants were provided with a folder of educational material to promote the understanding of food labels. The results from the first questionnaire showed that, 55.8% of the respondents reported consulting information provided on packaged foods, however 30 days later 72.0% of respondents reported consulting this information (p < 0.001) [ 6 ].…”

Generational Differences in Food Choices and Consumer Behaviors in the Context of Sustainable Development

“…Proper education about food labels is essential, as labels have the potential to guide consumer behavior towards more sustainable consumption [77]. Food labeling is crucial in promoting public health [79]. Education helps when assessing the nutritional content of a product and in raising awareness of potentially harmful ingredients (allergens and additives) [80,81].…”