About 60 Percent Pay Attention to Nutrition Facts

By Madison Park

The findings from Columbia University reported that women with some college education were more likely to use the nutrition labels. Those who used them reported fewer calories, fat, saturated fat, and sugar intake than participants who did not pay attention.

Researchers used information from a 2005-2006 survey in which 5,502 participants answered questions on food label use and completed two 24-hour recalls of what they ate. The study also found that participants with limited English language skills had reduced rates of label use, indicating that language could be a barrier.

“If food labels are to have greater influence on public health, rates of use will likely need to be increased among US adults,” wrote the study authors.

Some suggestions for changing nutrition labels have been to have calories in bold type to or to issue more intuitive labeling using colors like red, yellow and green on food labels.