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Published on: June 21, 2019
College Students Must Overcome Barriers to Use Calorie Labels in Fast-Food Restaurants
Kimberly A Stran1, Linda L Knol1, Lori W Turner2
1Department of Human Nutrition and Hospitality Management, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL.
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.
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