Patients’ Understanding and Use of Snack Food Package Nutrition Labels

Article Figures & Data

Table 1.

Nutrition Information Labels from Snack Food Packages Used in the Study

Product	Serving Size	Package Size	Cal/Serving	Calculated Cal/Package	Fat Cal% FDA/Serving	Fat Cal% FDA/Package
Doritos Nacho Cheesier Tortilla Chips	1 ounce	3.25 ounces	140	455	11%	36%
Milky Way Big Bar	1/3 bar (34 g)	363 ounces (102 g)	160	480	9%	27%
GrandMa’s Vanilla Sandwich Cremes (3 ounce)	5 cookies (43 g)	10 cookies (86 g)	210	420	15%	30%
Pepsi	8 ounce	20 ounces	100	250	N/A	N/A

Table 2.

Study Interview Questions

1. Do you know, or can you guess, how many calories are in this package?

2. Do you know where you can find this information on the package? (Show if answer is no)

3. Can you tell how many calories are in the entire package now? (Paper, calculation assistance offered only if requested)

4. Can you tell if there is any fat in the product? If so, how much?

5. Do you know how many calories you should consume in a day? How many grams of fat in a day?

6. Do you know, or can you figure out, what portion of your daily calorie or fat allotment is in this package?

Table 3.

Characteristics of Study Sample

Demographic
Sex
Male	n = 17	19%
Female	n = 73	81%
Race
African American	n = 38	42%
White	n = 43	48%
Other	n = 9	10%
Age	18 to 60 (mean 36.2)
Annual Income (Missing n = 19)
<$10,000	n = 18	25%
$10,000 to 30,000	n = 44	62%
>$30,000	n =9	13%
Education
Less than high school	n = 23	26%
High school/equivalent	n = 51	57%
Beyond high school	n = 15	17%
Habits, self-report (group mean)
Daily snack food/beverage	2 units per day
Exercise frequency	3 times per week
TV viewing per week	25.4 hours per week
BMI (calculated)	28.4
Co-morbid medical conditions, self-report (missing n = 11)
Diabetes	n = 17	21%
Hypertension	n = 29	37%
Coronary heart disease	n = 6	8%
Stroke/cerebrovascular disease	n = 3	4%
Chronic obstructive lung disease	n = 0	0%
Hyperlipidemia	n = 24	30%

Table 4.

Significant Associations with Incorrect Interpretation of Package Label

	Unable to identify multiple servings per package	Able to identify multiple servings per package
Cardiovascular disease
Not reported	51	33
Reported	6	0
( P < .05)
Level of education
Bachelor’s degree	4	10
High school or equivalent	35	17
Didn’t complete high school	18	6
(P = .011)

There was a significant difference in the ability to identify multiple servings per package in those with at least a high school diploma versus those that did not complete high school.