More Women Read Nutrition Labels

A study that looked at 573 males and 809 females between the ages of 19 to 70 found that women use the Nutrition Facts label, health claims, ingredient lists and serving sizes more frequently than men when making decisions about food products.

Do you read food nutrition labels? Do you just glance at them or do you read them thoroughly? Well according to a recent study from the University of Alabama your answer will depend on your gender! A study that looked at 573 males and 809 females between the ages of 19 to 70 found that women use the Nutrition Facts label, health claims, ingredient lists and serving sizes more frequently than men when making decisions about food products. Personal factors, like age and education (more education correlated with more label checking), as well as personal systems like diet quality affected female scores. And Race was a significant predictor of label use for men – specifically, Hispanic men checked the labels more frequently than white men. Both men and women who were 51 to 70 years of age had significantly higher rates of checking the labels and then using them – compared with younger participants in the study. We’ve been using nutrition labels for almost 20 years, but their use has slightly declined during that time (65% of consumers used the labels in 1995; 62% used them in 2009-2010). A reason for that may be that there is so much information on these labels they can be seen as confusing. There are also now an array of claims on products, form gluten-free, to fat-free to high fiber, its no wonder some of this information becomes invisible to a consumer. So, studies like this important to help understand the best way to tailor nutrition information and education. Researchers note that this type of research can be used by health professionals to target various population groups and help them get the nutrition information they need.