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Nutrition Label Training among College Students: A Novel Approach
Author(s) -
Miller Lisa Soederberg,
Sutter Carolyn,
Applegate Elizabeth,
Wilson Machelle,
Beckett Laurel,
Gibson Tanja
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.lb317
Subject(s) - nutrition facts label , nutrition education , context (archaeology) , reading (process) , construct (python library) , medical education , nutrition labeling , cognition , psychology , medicine , computer science , gerontology , environmental health , paleontology , neuroscience , political science , law , biology , programming language
College years represent an important developmental period in which young adults learn how to make dietary choices independent of parents and guardians. Nutrition labels are a potentially important tool for navigating these choices within the context of broader food literacy skills. However, many college students do not regularly use labels and may be unprepared to interpret information in nutrition labels. Moreover, we know surprisingly little about the modifiability of nutrition label reading skills in college students. In the present study, we trained 140 college students (ages 18–29, 61% female, with an average of 14.6 years of education) on a nutrition label task to determine whether accuracy of healthfulness decisions could be increased with practice. Our approach incorporated three components which are well‐supported in the cognitive science literature on skill development: prior information, practice, and accuracy feedback. We manipulated the content of a brief tutorial prior to label training to determine whether training may be more effective among those who receive background information on nutrition in addition to background information on nutrition labels (longer) relative to those who receive background information on only the nutrition label information (shorter). The practice component centered on three practice blocks of nutrition label comparisons. Students compared two nutrition labels, presented side‐by‐side on a computer screen, to determine which was more healthful. Feedback was presented after each comparison, as well as at the end of each block of 24 comparisons. Results showed that accuracy in comparing nutrition labels increased across blocks, with greater increases for students who received the longer relative to shorter tutorial. Accuracy was highest for comparisons with to‐be‐limited nutrient changes and for comparisons without distracting counter changes. Speed in completing blocks also increased with practice. In conclusion, following a brief tutorial, college students increased the accuracy and efficiency with which they used nutrition labels to evaluate healthfulness in one practice session. Future work is needed to determine if greater efficiency can continue to improve with additional training, and in the long‐term, translate into more healthful food choices. Support or Funding Information National Institutes of Health (NIH), R01CA159447 National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), #UL1 TR2