Abstract
Background: Food labeling is a fundamental educational tool for advocating for public awareness. It emphasizes knowledge of the nutrient content of food and thus directs the choice towards the healthiest food products. This cross-sectional survey aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding nutrition label use in Lebanon through a valid questionnaire. Methods: Overall, 768 participants (mean age: 30.8 ±12, males: 60.2%) were recruited randomly between February and May 2020. We used word of mouth and social media to recruit our sample population. Results: Social media was the most accessed tool to attain nutrition information by responders (39.8%). More than half the participants expressed positive attitudes to check information related to sugars (66.4%), vitamins (64.9%), total fats (61.7%), proteins (59.1%), and calories (58.7%) on the food label. Expiry date, price, and brand name were the top three considerations while reading food labels. About half (46.5%) reported to "always" look at the food label. Responders reported reading labels related primarily to sugars (44.3%), calories (38.8%), and total fats (36.8%). The optimal total KAP score was 46; our findings revealed a mean KAP score of 14.46 ±7 (31.4%). When categorizing the KAP scores, 15% had high scores, and 85% scored low. Spearman's coefficients showed positive correlations between knowledge-attitude, knowledge-practice, and attitude-practice scores, with p<0.001. The regression analysis revealed that gender, age, BMI, residency area, educational level, university degree, health and diet statuses, and activity level were significant predictors of the KAP score. Being on a diet had the highest odds (OR=3.107, CI=1.904-5.072, p<0.001). Conclusion: The low awareness of food labels leads Lebanese people to choose unhealthy food options. A planned educational program is recommended to ease the interpretation of these labels.
Highlights
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) account for over 35 million disease cases per year and two-thirds of the world's deaths.[1]
The model concluded that consumers who are more knowledgeable about food nutrients are more likely to develop positive attitudes and use label information productively and correctly.[10]
The massive gap between our obtained knowledge score (17.6%) and that observed in a previous year (63.1%), might be partly related to the study protocol, as we carried out an online survey, which might have affected the comprehension of the questions; in the previous study, shoppers were surveyed in supermarkets
Summary
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) account for over 35 million disease cases per year and two-thirds of the world's deaths.[1]. The aim of this study was to assess consumers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) regarding the information on food labels, and to investigate the correlates of low levels of KAP among Lebanese shoppers. Food labeling is a fundamental educational tool for advocating for public awareness It emphasizes knowledge of the nutrient content of food and directs the choice towards the healthiest food products. This cross-sectional survey aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding nutrition label use in Lebanon through a valid questionnaire. More than half the participants expressed positive attitudes to check information related to sugars (66.4%), vitamins (64.9%), total fats (61.7%), proteins (59.1%), and calories (58.7%) on the food label. Spearman’s coefficients showed positive correlations between article can be found at the end of the article
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