Abstract
In order to adhere to dietary guidelines and manage health risks, consumers need to be able to estimate with some accuracy the sugar and energy content of foods. The present study compared how well participants could estimate the sugar and energy content of foods, the weight of foods, and approximate portion size (using a hand measure estimation aid). The study had three aims. First, it aimed to investigate differences in accuracy across the four measures. Second, it aimed to examine whether these differences in accuracy between estimation measures were accurately perceived by the participants. Third, it aimed to test if estimation accuracy was related to food journaling experience, body-mass index or gender. One hundred and ninety-seven participants took part in an estimation task and filled in a questionnaire. While the participants were inaccurate when using all four estimation measures, inaccuracy was most pronounced for sugar content (ds ≥ 0.39), which was consistently overestimated by between 62.1% and 98.5% of the sample. None of the other measures showed a consistent pattern of under- or overestimation. Participants’ perceived accuracy did not match their actual accuracy (rs ≤ |0.20|, ps ≥ 0.005). Actual accuracy showed only marginal covariation with food journaling experience (ts ≤ 2.01, ps ≥ 0.049, ds ≤ 0.14), body-mass index (rs ≤ |0.15|, ps ≥ 0.041) or gender (ts ≤ 3.17, ps ≥ 0.002, ds ≤ 0.46). It is particularly challenging for consumers to estimate the sugar content of food, which might have negative consequences for health and well-being. Thus, more education about sugar content and misperceptions is needed to support consumers so that they can make healthy food choices.
Highlights
IntroductionAs sugar intake is positively related to dental caries [2] and excess consumption of energy derived from sugar leads to overweight or obesity in both children and adults [3], the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends to limit daily sugar intake to 10% of total energy intake [1]
In 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) published renewed guidelines for sugar intake [1].As sugar intake is positively related to dental caries [2] and excess consumption of energy derived from sugar leads to overweight or obesity in both children and adults [3], the WHO recommends to limit daily sugar intake to 10% of total energy intake [1]
Participants might have been more familiar with energy content because energy content is listed first on many nutrition labels on food packaging, either on top of a list of nutrients in a table format or at the left side on the guideline daily amount (GDA)
Summary
As sugar intake is positively related to dental caries [2] and excess consumption of energy derived from sugar leads to overweight or obesity in both children and adults [3], the WHO recommends to limit daily sugar intake to 10% of total energy intake [1]. This recommendation is reflected in the dietary guidelines of several national institutes such as the German Nutrition Society [4] and the Federal Centre for Nutrition in Germany, where the present study was conducted. It is important to reduce sugar and energy consumed to reduce health risks
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