The development of a dietary nutrient density educational tool and the investigation of its acceptance by Chinese residents from Henan province

Abstract

Objectives Helping consumers select nutrient-dense foods is a strategy to improve their diet quality. However, communications based on the nutrient-dense foods as a positive attribution have not been used widely in nutritional education. This study aimed to develop an educational tool based on the picture and guidance of “Chinese Food Guide Pagoda (2022)", and extend it with the concept of nutrient density, and to investigate its acceptance by Chinese residents. Methods Three examples (recipes with high, medium, and low nutrient-rich foods (NRF) 9.2 ratings, an indicator for measuring dietary nutrient density) served as the basis for creating the dietary nutrient density educational tool. A self-designed questionnaire was designed to investigate the acceptance of the "dietary nutrient density educational tool" among college students from Henan province based on the theory of planned behavior. Results From three recipes used in the tool, with the decrease in the NRF9.2 score of the recipes, the energy intake was increased from 1686 kcal to 2363 kcal, the dietary fat-to-energy ratio was increased from 28–42%, and the mean adequacy ratio (MAR) was decreased from 0.96 to 0.87. A total of 851 college students completed the acceptance questionnaire. The average score of acceptance was 4.07, with the total score was 5. The results showed that behavior intention to use the tool positively correlated with family residence, subjective norms, and perceptual behavior control, with the latter playing the most substantial role. These three factors can account for 83.5% of the variation in behavior intention. Conclusion To encourage customers to choose healthier foods, we were the first to design the dietary nutrient density educational tool, expanding the current instructional tools—the Chinese Food Guide Pagoda (2022). The acceptance questionnaire survey showed that residents had a good acceptance of the tool and family residence, subjective norms, perceptual behavior control may strongly contribute to resident's acceptance for using the educational tool.