Intergenerational Use of and Attitudes Toward Food Labels in Louisiana

Transcription

1 Intergeneratonal Use of and Atttudes Toward Food Labels n Lousana Patrca E. McLean-Meynsse and Jock J. Summers esults from a random sample of,300 households n Lousana suggest that senors are the most frequent users of food labels, but they are also more lkely to agree that labels are hard to nterpret. Consumers n the 8-to-5 age group are more lkely to use frends, relatves, and food-company publcatons as ther man sources of nutrtonal nformaton. The authors are professor and undergraduate student, respectvely, Dvson of Agrcultural Scences, Southern Unversty, Baton ouge, Lousana. Fnancal support for the project was provded by the Unted States Department of Agrculture s Cooperatve State esearch, Educaton, and Extenson Servce, and by Southern Unversty Agrcultural esearch and Extenson Center. The Unted States s facng a serous health crss because of the rsng number of overweght and obese ctzens. Although the country s obesty problem dd not occur overnght, t has now reached epdemc levels. Usng data from the Natonal Health and Nutrton Examnaton Survey (NHANES), the Centers for Dsease Control (CDC) reported that 66.5 percent of adults aged 0 years and older are ether overweght or obese, and that 3.9 percent of chldren between and 5 years old, 8.8 percent of chldren (6 years) and 7 percent of adolescents ( 9 years) are overweght. Consequently, more than.5 mllon chldren and adolescents aged 9 years old were overweght, and more than 66 mllon adults were obese (3. percent of the populaton). Fve percent of adults between 0 and 74 years of age were excessvely or morbdly obese (CDC 006a, 006b). The NHANES data also suggested that overweght and obesty rates ncreased from 999 levels across gender, race, age, and ethnc groups (CDC 006a, 006b). The prevalence of overweght among grls grew from 3.8 percent n 999 to 6 percent n 004, whle that for boys rose from 4 to 8. percent over the same perod. A hgher percentage of Afrcan- Amercan grls were overweght compared to other ethnc groups; 30 percent of Caucasan adults were obese compared to 45 percent of Afrcan Amercans; adolescents were less lkely to be overweght than were chldren; and younger adults were less lkely to be obese than older adults (CDC 006b). Mech et al. found that assocatons between the prevalence of overweght adolescents and poverty status dffered by age stratum. For example, there were no statstcal dfferences n overweght and poverty status for 4-year-old adolescents. However, wde dspartes exsted between weght and poverty status among all ethnc groups for adolescents aged 5 to7 years old (Mech et al. 006). Serous health problems have been assocated wth beng overweght or obese. And research suggests that overweght or obese ndvduals have ncreased rsks for hypertenson, hgh cholesterol, type- dabetes, cardovascular dsease, cerebrovascular dsease, stroke, gout, sleep apnea, osteoarthrts, gallbladder dsease, and some forms of cancer (CDC 004; Crane et al. 997; Lousana Department of Health and Hosptals 006). Superszed fres, lack of sleep, and the dsdan for exercse have ncreased U.S. demand for super-szed wheelchars, hosptal beds, and caskets (Lamberg 006). Overweght chldren also are more lkely to suffer from depresson and low self-esteem and to become obese adults. The rsks for chldhood obesty are lnked to parental weght, workng status of mothers, and number of hours spent watchng televson and playng vdeo games, (Adach-Meja et al. 007; Campbell, Crawford, and Ball 006; Crepnsek and Bursten 004; Gable, Chang, and Krull 007; Varyam 00). Addtonally, young grls were more lkely to have lower test scores f they were not overweght n kndergarten but became overweght by the end of the thrd grade (Datar and Sturm 006). The stuaton s no dfferent n Lousana. Between 99 and 004, the state s adult obesty rate grew from 6 to 7 percent, and the percentage of overweght or obese resdents rose from 49 to 63 percent (Lousana Department of Health and Hosptals 006). More recent nformaton from the Trust for Amerca s Health (007) suggests that the trend s contnung. Lousana now ranks fourth n the country for obesty n ts adult populaton (8.

2 McLean-Meynsse and Summers Intergeneratonal Use of and Atttudes toward Food Labels n Lousana 93 percent) and nnth n terms of overweght youths aged 0 7 (7. percent). The report also suggests that about 3.3 percent of adults n the state do not engage n any physcal actvty, compared to percent at the natonal level (Trust for Amerca s Health 007). Because of rsng medcal costs and research lnkng det and health, Congress passed the Nutrton Labelng and Educaton Act n 990 to provde consumers wth easer access to nutrtonal nformaton. Ths Act was dfferent from prevous legslaton because t regulated nutrton labelng and nutrtonal clams such as fat-free or low n fat. The new food labels were to provde nformaton on servng sze, servngs per contaner, and the amount per servng of calores, total fat, cholesterol, sodum, total carbohydrate, detary fber, sugars, proten, and other nutrents (Golan et al. 000). Nutrtonal Facts panels were ntroduced on most processed foods n md-994. Consumers therefore had an easly accessble source of nutrtonal nformaton for more than 3 years, yet overweght and obesty rates have been trendng upwards. Ths suggests that consumers may not be usng the labels to make healther food choces. Gven the trplng n overweght and obesty rates n chldren and adults over the past 30 years, the dffculty n achevng long-term weght loss, and the ncreased costs assocated wth treatng det-related health problems, every step must be explored to avert these rates from rsng any further. Our study examnes nutrtonal practces and atttudes among four groups of consumers n Lousana to determne whether addtonal strateges are needed to help consumers to make better food choces. Objectves The study s objectves are to assess levels of food-label use, atttudes toward food labels, and the sources used for nutrtonal nformaton by Generaton Next (8 5); Generaton X (6 40); Baby Boomers (4 60); and Senors (> 60) n Lousana. Data and Procedures Data were compled from a random sample of prmary grocery shoppers and/or meal preparers n Lousana s 64 parshes n the fall of 00. The survey was conducted by a market research frm and contaned,300 partcpants. The comprehensve data set ncluded nformaton on nutrtonal awareness and knowledge of lnks between det and health, use of Nutrton Facts panels n food buyng and meal preparaton decsons, levels of understandng of food-labelng nformaton, prmary sources of nutrtonal nformaton, perceptons of overall det and health, food-securty ssues, and respondents socoeconomc and demographc characterstcs. Ths study reports nformaton on how often respondents read food labels (EAD), the usefulness of the labelng nformaton (USEFUL), levels of confdence n usng labels to choose a healthy det (CONFIDENT), levels of dffculty n nterpretng the labelng nformaton (HAD), respondents nterest n learnng more about labels (LEAN), whether labelng nformaton s superor to own knowledge (BETTE), and the man sources of nutrtonal nformaton for the four age groups. The sources of nutrtonal nformaton are doctor, nurse, or other health professonal (DOCTO); nutrtonst, dettan, home economst, or extenson agent (AGENT); relatves or frends (FIENDS); rado or televson programs (ADIO); newspapers, magaznes, or books (PAPE), government or health-organzaton publcatons (HEALTH); and food-company publcatons (FOOD). For label use and nformaton sources, the response categores are (4) often, (3) sometmes, () rarely, and () never. The response categores for the other statements are (5) strongly agree, (4) somewhat agree, (3) neutral, () somewhat dsagree, and () strongly dsagree. Gven the ordnal nature of the response categores, we employed the Kruskal-Walls (K-W) rank test for dfferences n mean ranks among the four age groups. Trola (00) expresses the K-W ank Test as () H = N ( N + ) n 3( N + ) n n where N = total number of observatons n all samples combned, K = number of samples, = sum of ranks for Sample, and n = number of observatons n Sample. For Sample, the sum of ranks s and the number of observatons s represented by k k

3 94 March 008 Journal of Food Dstrbuton esearch 39() n. Smlar notatons apply to the other samples. If the data have ranks nstead of orgnal values x, Trola (00) suggests that many components are predetermned, and that the sum of all ranks can be expressed as N (N + ) /. The followng expresson combnes the weghted varances of ranks to produce the test statstc H (Trola 00): = () H = n N N, ( + ) where = = n =. n Under the K-W test, the null hypothess for a partcular response category s that the rankngs are the same across the age groups. The alternatve hypothess s that at least one of the rankngs dffers across groups. For large samples, the test statstc can be approxmated by the ch-square dstrbuton wth k degrees of freedom. Emprcal esults and Dscusson Based on the age groupngs, 3 percent of the respondents are classfed as Generaton Next (GenNext), 3 percent as Generaton X (GenX), 36 percent as Baby Boomers (GenBaby), and 6 percent as senors (Senor). Two percent of the respondents dd not provde age nformaton. The results n Table suggest that there are no statstcally sgnfcant dfferences n the rankngs for the frequency of usng labels among the four groups of consumers. Although not statstcally sgnfcant, the mean rankngs for label use are lower among the 8 5 and the 6 40 age groups than among older consumers. Compared to other age groups, members of Generaton Next and Generaton X are least lkely to agree that the food-labelng nformaton s useful. Baby Bloomers are more confdent that they know how to use labels to make better food choces than are other age groups. The younger age groups tend to fnd food labels easer to nterpret, but express some nterest n learnng more about labels. A lower percentage of consumers n the 8 5 age group agreed wth the statement that usng foods labels to choose foods was better than relyng on ther own knowledge about nutrton. Table shows the rankngs for the major sources consumers use for nutrtonal nformaton. Overall, respondents get ther nutrtonal nformaton from healthcare professonals, frends and relatves, and from government and food-company publcatons. ado, televson, newspapers, magaznes, and books do not statstcally sgnfcantly nfluence consumers rankngs of nutrtonal sources. Thus these sources are not major players n the dssemnaton of nutrtonal nformaton to consumers. Older respondents rely more on healthcare professonals for nutrtonal nformaton than do younger consumers. The man nutrtonal sources for 8 5-year-old respondents are frends, relatves, and food-company publcatons. Table. Label Use and Atttudes Toward Food Labelng Informaton. Attrbutes GenNext (8 5) GenX (6 40) GenBaby (4 60) Senor (>60) χ P-value ead Useful ** Confdent *** Hard ** Learn Better * Note: (*), (**), and (***) denote statstcal sgnfcance at the 0-percent, 5-percent, and -percent levels of probablty, respectvely.

4 McLean-Meynsse and Summers Intergeneratonal Use of and Atttudes toward Food Labels n Lousana 95 Concluson Lousana now ranks fourth n the country n the level of obesty of ts adult populaton (8. percent) and nnth n terms of overweght youths aged 0 7 (7. percent). About 3.3 percent of adults n the state do not engage n any physcal actvty, compared to percent at the natonal level. Several studes have found strong lnks between watchng televson and obesty, and that watchng televson can elevate blood pressure n obese chldren and teenagers. However, t does not appear that ths medum s beng used to dssemnate nutrtonal nformaton. Our study suggests that consumers 8 5 years old rank rado and televson as ther fourth source for nutrtonal nformaton, and that ths group s more lkely to rely on relatves, frends, and food-company publcatons for nutrtonal nformaton. Gven the rsng rates of overweght and obesty among Generaton Next, every effort should be made to educate these consumers and ther parents on how to use food labels to make healther food choces. Addtonally, rado, televson, and the Internet also must be used extensvely to dssemnate the nutrtonal nformaton to consumers. eferences Adach-Meja, A.M., M.. Longacre, J. J. Gbson, M. L. Beach, L. T. Ttus-Ernstoff, and M. A. Dalton Chldren wth a TV n Ther Bedroom at Hgher sk for Beng Overweght. Internatonal Journal of Obesty 3: Campbell, K. J., D. A. Crawford, and K. Ball Famly Food Envronment and Detary Behavors Lkely to Promote Fatness n 5 6 Year-Old Chldren. Internatonal Journal of Obesty 30: Centers for Dsease Control, Natonal Center for Chronc Dsease Preventon and Health Promoton, Nutrton & Physcal Actvty Overweght and Obesty: Health Consequences. consequences.htm. Accessed June, 004. Centers for Dsease Control, Natonal Center for Health Statstcs. 006a. Overweght. http: // Accessed June, 006. Centers for Dsease Control, Natonal Center for Health Statstcs. 006b Obesty s Stll a Major Problem. 06facts/obesty03_04.htm. Accessed June, 006. Crane, S. S., M. A. Wojtowycz, T. D. Dye,. H. Aubry, and. Artal Assocaton between Pre-Pregnancy Obesty and the sks of Cesarean Delvery. Obstetrcs and Gynecology 89(): 3 6. Crepnsek, M. K., and N. Bursten Maternal Employment and Chldren s Nutrton: Volume II, Other Nutrton-elated Outcomes. E-FAN , U.S. Department of Agrculture, Table. ankngs for Sources of Nutrtonal Informaton. Attrbutes GenNext (8 5) GenX (6 40) GenBaby (4 60) Senor (>60) χ P-value Doctor *** Agent * Frends *** ado Paper Health ** Food *** Note: (*), (**), and (***) denote statstcal sgnfcance at the 0-percent, 5-percent, and -percent levels of probablty, respectvely.

5 96 March 008 Journal of Food Dstrbuton esearch 39() Economc esearch Servce. Datar A. and. Sturm Chldhood Overweght and Elementary School Outcomes. Internatonal Journal of Obesty 30: Gable, S.,Y. Chang, and J. L. Krull Televson Watchng and Frequency of Famly Meals Are Predctve of Overweght, Onset and Persstence n a Natonal Sample of School-Aged Chldren. Journal of the Amercan Detetc Assocaton 07():53 6. Golan, E., F. Kuchler, and L. Mtchel, wth contrbutons from C. Greene and A. Jessup Economcs of Food Labelng. U.S. Department of Agrculture, Economc esearch Servce, Agrcultural Economc eport, Number 793. Lamberg, L x for Obesty: Eat Less, Exercse More, and Maybe Get More Sleep. Journal of the Amercan Medcal Assocaton 95(0): Lousana Department of Health and Hosptals Lousana Health eport Card 005. http: // pubs-75/health report card005.pdf. Accessed June, 006. Mech,.A., S. K. Kumanyka, N. Stettler, B.G. Lnk, J.C. Phelan, and V.W. Chang Trends n the Assocaton of Poverty wth Overweght among U.S. Adolescents, Journal of the Amercan Medcal Assocaton 95(0): Trola, M. F. Elementary Statstcs. 00. Eghth Edton. Addson Wesley Longman, Inc. Trust for Amerca s Health Lousana Adults 4 th Most Obese n Country; Youth 9 th Most Overweght. reports/obesty007/release.php?stateid=la. Accessed December, 007 Varyam, J. N. 00. Overweght Chldren: Is Parental Nutrton Knowledge a Factor? Amber Waves 4():8.