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Calorie Underestimation When Buying High-Calorie Beverages in Fast-Food Contexts
Rebecca L Franckle1, Jason P Block1, Christina A Roberto1
1Rebecca L. Franckle is with the Departments of Nutrition and Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA. Jason P. Block is with the Obesity Prevention Program, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School/Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston. Christina A. Roberto is with the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Abstract:
We asked 1877 adults and 1178 adolescents visiting 89 fast-food restaurants in New England in 2010 and 2011 to estimate calories purchased. Calorie underestimation was greater among those purchasing a high-calorie beverage than among those who did not (adults: 324 ±698 vs 102 ±591 calories; adolescents: 360 ±602 vs 198 ±509 calories). This difference remained significant for adults but not adolescents after adjusting for total calories purchased. Purchasing high-calorie beverages may uniquely contribute to calorie underestimation among adults.
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