• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.149-161
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to compare nutrition labeling use according to the gender and obesity degree of adolescents to help choose the healthy foods and improve dietary habits. This study surveyed the perception and use of nutrition labeling among 392 male and female high school students in Chungnam. It was found that 34.7% of the subjects read the nutrition labels, mostly for health reason. Calorie content was read the most among all components of nutrition labels regardless of gender or body mass index (BMI) status, especially among female students. Perception of nutrition labeling was 3.3 out of 5 points for all students, and there was no significant difference in scores between male and female students. However, there was a significant difference between the overweight group (3.4 points), normal group (3.3 points), and underweight group (3.1 points) (P<0.05). The frequency of reading nutrition labels by food group was highest for ramen, and lowest for fruits. Female students had significantly higher scores on the use of nutrition labeling for 8 food groups out of 12 groups compared to male students (P<0.05). In addition, the overweight and above group had significantly higher scores on the use of nutrition labeling for snack food and fruits compared to other groups (P<0.05). The proportion of students who received nutrition labeling education was 29.8%, and about half of students answered that such education and advertisement were necessary. These results suggest that nutritional education is needed to promote the use of nutrition labeling in adolescents.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.849-857
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to investigate 5th grade elementary school girls' effort to recognize and use nutritional labels on processed foods and restaurant meals to encourage dietary behavior. The subjects (n=976) were divided into three groups (effort group, n=711; normal group, n=193; and no-effort group, n=72) depending on level of effort for the healthy dietary behavior such as eating balanced meals, eating three meals regularly, and eating meals slowly. In the effort group, the frequency of food intake for breads, ramen, noodles and fast foods was significantly lower, while frequency of food intake for fruits and vegetables and salad was significantly higher than in the other two groups. In the effort group, the ratio of the respondents that perception of nutrition labeling on processed foods and restaurant meals was 80.5% and 31.4% and the ratio of girls who checked the nutrition labeling at their point of purchase was 71.1% and 24.7%, respectively. Reasons given for not reading nutrition labeling for restaurant meals were 'not interested' for 34.6% of the effort group, and 52.2% of the no-effort group. Therefore, it is necessary to create an educational program on healthy dietary behavior, including how to read nutrition labeling and establishment of proper body image perception for elementary school girls.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.453-465
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• 2014

This study surveyed 266 housewives residing in a Gyeonggi-provincial area for their dietary attitudes, dietary habits, nutrition knowledge, and application of nutrition information to daily life according to whether they use nutrition labeling. The survey on the dietary attitudes of the subjects showed that the points of "think that nutrition affects health", "quite interested in nutrition and health information", "like developing and trying new diverse recipes", and "persistently try new foods" were higher among those who check out nutrition labeling (Check group, n=112) than those who do not check out nutrition labeling (No check group, n=154). Reason for snacking, the Check group reported higher in the reasons of "for taking nutrients" but lower in the reasons of "do not eat enough meal" and "impulsively" than the No check group (p<0.01). Asked about why they check the nutrition labeling, the Check group answered "to compare products with each other" and "to purchase healthy food" whereas the No check group said "to decide whether the food is safe or not" and "to reduce body weight" (p<0.01). The Check group showed more recognition on the significance of the nutrition labeling and application to their actual daily lives than the No check group. Therefore, our results suggest that proper use of nutrition labeling is expected to improve dietary attitudes and dietary habits as well as enhance the application of nutrition information to actual daily life and promote health not only for the housewives but also for their family members as well.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.179-189
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to investigate intakes of processed food and use and understanding of food labeling by middle school students in the Chonbuk area. Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 912 middle school students. Questionnaires included questions regarding general characteristics of the students, intakes of processed food, perception of food labeling, and knowledge of food labeling. Data were analyzed by SPSS 11.5 statistical software. Significant differences between genders were tested by the $x^2$-test and the t-test. The frequency of processed foods being consumed at least two times per day was 31.0%, once a day was 30.5%, once a week was 26.0%, and eating rarely was 12.5%. Most frequently consumed processed foods were milk and milk products, bread and biscuits, and candy and chocolates. When the subjects bought processed foods, they read the general facts 3.1 out of 5.0 points, where the scores for females (3.2) were higher than the males (3.0) at p<.001. The subjects read the nutrition facts 2.7 out of the 5.0 points, and the scores of the females (3.0) were again higher than the males (2.5) at p<.001. The subjects recognized the necessity of general facts(3.5) and nutrition facts(3.4) of food labeling, but, only 33.9% of the subjects had received food labeling education. The accuracy rate of the food labeling knowledge of the subjects was not high, the accuracy rate ranged from 19.3% to 76.8%. Therefore, it is necessary to develop school programs for middle school students to provide education on processed foods, food labeling, general facts and nutrition facts.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.391-397
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• 2013

This study investigated the knowledge, attitude, and behavior of 280 University students towards nutrition labels. The purpose of the study was to examine knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of university students regarding nutrition labeling, and whether body mass index (BMI) with nutrition labeling was associated with knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Descriptive statistics analyzed knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of university students regarding food labeling. The ANOVA and ${\chi}^2$ analysis was evaluated and assessed for its relationship with BMI. Pearson's correlation coefficient analysis examined relationships between knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. More than 90 percent of answers relating to 11 nutritional knowledge questions were correct. Only 30% of participants answered correctly regarding questions about plan source oil and cholesterol content. Attitudes and behaviors of nutrition labels were significantly higher among participants who were obese (p<0.001). Knowledge score was positively correlated with general label usage behavior (r=.169, p<0.01), and item buying behavior (r=0.142, p<0.05). Attitude also was positively correlated with behavior (p<0.01). Nutrition labeling education efforts are needed to provide university students with a nutritional education program and information on how to read nutritional labels and apply this information to their lives. University students need to understand their need for numerous nutrients instead of merely focusing on the fat and calories of foods.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.517-522
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• 2015

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to investigate food allergens and prevalence rates of food allergies, followed by comparison of consumer attitudes and preferences regarding food allergy labeling by diagnosis of food allergies. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A total of 543 individuals living in Seoul and Gyeonggi area participated in the survey from October 15 to 22 in 2013. RESULTS: The results show that the prevalence of doctor-diagnosed food allergies was 17.5%, whereas 6.4% of respondents self-reported food allergies. The most common allergens of doctor-diagnosed and self-reported food allergy respondents were peaches (30.3%) and eggs (33.3%), respectively, followed by peanuts, cow's milk, and crab. Regarding consumer attitudes toward food labeling, checking food allergens as an item was only significantly different between allergic and non-allergic respondents among all five items (P < 0.001). All respondents reported that all six items (bold font, font color, box frame, warning statement, front label, and addition of potential allergens) were necessary for an improved food allergen labeling system. PLSR analysis determined that the doctor-diagnosed group and checking of food allergens were positively correlated, whereas the non-allergy group was more concerned with checking product brands. CONCLUSIONS: An effective food labeling system is very important for health protection of allergic consumers. Additionally, government agencies must develop policies regarding prevalence of food allergies in Korea. Based on this information, the food industry and government agencies should provide clear and accurate food labeling practices for consumers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.432-438
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• 2015

The purpose of menu labeling is to offer eating environments with improved healthy food selection. Similar to U.S. policies, the Korea government enforces the Special Act on Children's Food Safety and Nutrition for provision of nutritional labeling in chain restaurants. Considering the importance of dining services for college students and their interests in health, this study examined college students' perception toward nutrition information provided by university dining services. A survey was conducted for university students. Students' recognition of nutrition information for university dining services was lower than recognition of nutrition information for commercial food services. The most common reason cited by students for considering nutrition information of university dining services was customer rights, followed by health maintenance. Students showed a high tendency to use nutrition information of university dining services. College students' motivation for knowing nutrition information of university dining services included health and value interests. Students' knowledge of nutrition had a positive effect on their intention to know nutrition information. The findings of this study offer university administrators and contract food service management companies directions for developing menu labeling for university dining services.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.9-16
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• 2017

This study investigated recognition of food labeling of high school students (males 94 and females 85) in Yongin region. Recognition of food labeling was very high at 81.6%. For checking food labeling at the time of purchasing, 53.6% of the respondents always checked and the main reason was healthier food choice (49.2%). Satisfaction of food labeling was very low at 18.4%. In spite of very low satisfaction, 70.9% of respondents recognized necessity for education of food labeling. In terms of education method, respondents preferred 'school lecture' the most with 48.6%, which are in the following order: TV/newspaper/journal/book (37.4%) > internet lecture (10.1%) > education from parents (3.9%). Moreover, 83.2% of respondents answered 'positive change (ex. checking food labeling)' after getting education. Consequently, high school students had low level of utilization of food labeling at the time of purchasing. However, they showed high level of perception and educational need of food labeling as well as possibility of positive change after receiving education. Therefore, appropriate school education for food labeling may be able to lead a healthy eating habit of high school students.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.519-533
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• 2007

This study was carried out to investigate the nutrition knowledge, dietary attitudes, and dietary habits of girl's high school students in Kunsan, and to investigate their recognition of food-nutrition labeling. The results are summarized as follows. General nutrition knowledge is relatively low, with an average of 0.57. It was shown that high school female students skipped breakfast rather than lunch or dinner, with a skipping rate of 28.9% for breakfast, 0.7% for lunch, and 8.6% for dinner. Regarding snacks, 35.5% of all the surveyed students had 1 snack per day, with 31.9% having them between lunch and dinner. The most popular snacks include biscuits (22.3%), noodles (18.3%) and bakery (13.3%). The most popular response was that students 'sometimes checked' the food label of processed domestic and imported processed food. The level of satisfaction with food labels is moderate, with an average of 2.96, out of 5. The most satisfactory title about food labels was 'helpful for food selection' with 3.19. On the other hand, the least satisfactory title was 'understands the label' with 2.78. Regarding the identification of the nutrition labeling, the highest response was 'sometimes watched, sometimes not' with 40.5%. Products which were most often checked were milk/milk products (3.44), snacks/bread (3.33), and soft drinks (3.07). Among nutrition labeling items, total calories was the most important, followed by fat, carbohydrate, cholesterol and calcium. The question regarding the knowledge of nutrition labeling rated an average of 0.58 (out of 1). There was a significant positive correlation between the degree of the nutrition label verification and the dietary attitude score, along with the nutrition labeling knowledge and the nutrition knowledge score of the subjects. On the other hand, the degree of the nutrition label verification and the knowledge on nutrition labeling had a significant negative correlation. Hence, it is of the opinion that education on properly reading nutrient information is necessary to enable adolescents to apply that in real life. Furthermore, labeling nutritional information on processed fred through a more comprehensive method is deemed necessary as a supporting measure.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.525-531
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• 2005

This study was carried out to establish the consumer-centric food labeling system by investigating usage state, importance evaluation, problems and satisfaction, etc. on the current food labeling system by consumer. For usage state of checking the food label, 50.2% of respondents were replied ‘mostly check the label’, and they were indicated a significant difference on ‘education level(p<.05)’, and in case of married respondents, most were relied 'absolutely check the label', For the reason to check the food label, 61.8% of respondents were replied 'to determine whether it is stable or not', and they were indicated a significant difference on age(p<.01), marital status(p<.01), and job(p<.01). For the item considered as important things on the label of the whole food, 49.8% of respondents were replied that 'expiration and manufacture date is important', and they were indicated a significant difference(p<.001) on age, marital status, job. For item considered as important things on the label of each food, it was indicated that they considered food company as important thing in case of snack, soft drink, edible oils, and noodles, and food company in case of ice cream, and expiration and manufacture date in case of milk product and meat product. For the problems on the current food labeling system, the clauses 'Poor marking on food additives and materials contents' and 'untrue marking of nutrition contents' were indicated a significant difference on age(p<0.05, p<0.001), and the clause 'untrue marking of nutrition contents' were indicated a significant difference on marital status(p<.01) and job(p<.01).