Attention to Front‐of‐Package Labels is Associated with Parents’ Healthy Food and Beverage Choices for Their Children

Abstract

ObjectiveParents play an important role in forming children's dietary habits, which have long‐term implications for health and wellbeing. Providing easy‐to‐understand nutrition information on front‐of‐pack (FOP) nutrition labels could influence healthy food choices parents make for their kids. The purpose of this study was to understand how attention to elements of different FOP labels influenced parent's choice of foods and beverages for their children.MethodsParents of children aged 3–11 years (n=100) were randomly assigned to one of four different FOP labeling conditions (single category, categorical nutrient‐quality, nutrient‐information, numeric nutrient‐quality systems) or a control condition with no nutrition information. For each of three product categories (beverages, ready‐to‐eat cereals, and snacks), participants simultaneously viewed three products that varied in healthiness and were instructed to select one product per category for their child's consumption. Attention to the area of interest that included the FOP nutrition label graphics or the same area without graphics for the control condition, was measured using eye tracking and recorded as fixation duration. T‐tests, Chi‐square, and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression with robust standard errors were used to examine relationships between condition, attention, and choice. Covariates included parents’ understanding of their assigned FOP system, nutrition literacy, and child feeding practices.ResultsIn simple bivariate analyses comparing fixation duration in the area of interest for each labeling condition versus a control condition, significant differences in fixation duration were detected for products depicting the categorical nutrient‐quality system (t=4.54; p = 0.000) and the numeric nutrient‐quality system (t = 2.06; p = 0.042). Longer fixation duration on any FOP label was significantly associated with selection of healthier products across all conditions (p=0.014) even after controlling for covariates.ConclusionThis study suggests that greater attention to nutrition information communicated on FOP labels, independent of the type of label, was associated with selection of healthier foods and beverages for their child's consumption. It may be that parents who are more health conscious may be more likely to select the healthier product and to attend to nutrition information on the FOP. Results suggest that the labels conveying nutrient quality on all products in a category (categorical or numeric) garner the greatest attention, suggesting that these options may have greater potential for improving food choice. One limitation of the study was the small sample size that may have resulted in inadequate power to detect true differences between FOP conditions. Understanding how different FOP labeling systems influence healthier food choices would provide important information regarding promotion of healthy food choices for policy development for law makers, manufacturers and retailers.Support or Funding InformationThis study was funded by the University of South Carolina, Office of the Vice President for Research