RESUMEN
Food labeling is found to be a very important public health tool aimed at providing consumers with information which may influence their purchasing decisions. This study has aimed to assess the consumers' behaviors about the important information on the labels and their reasons for use or non-use. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted as point of purchase survey among 2123 shoppers in chain stores in Teharn, Iran, during 2008-2009. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire which contained 4 sections measuring respondents' background, knowledge, perception, and behaviors about information on food labels. Results showed that 82.8 % of consumers look at food label information when purchasing food products. Younger adults [aged 20-40 years], female, married, employees and holders of a diploma and higher, individuals with higher level of knowledge, and those in the group categories of monthly income higher 6 million rials were significantly more likely to use food labels. Most of the respondents [29.3%] found small print on food labels to be the main reason for not reading food labels information, followed by no interest [26.3%], do not believe [12.6%], do not understand [7.1%]. Our study suggests that increasing nutrition knowledge and understandable and legible food labeling can increase the likelihood of food label usage
RESUMEN
Due to the adverse effects of obesity and overweight on health status of people, organizations that provide daily food aim for a healthy Body Mass Index among their staff. The purpose of this applied randomized controlled trial [RCT] was to study the effect of modifications in the food service section and nutritional intervention on the BMI of staff in an industrial center. In this applied randomized controlled trial which lasted for 40 days, 116 overweight people [BMI >/= 26] were randomly selected and divided into control and test groups. Individual daily food plan was prepared by a dietitian and nutritional education sessions were held for test group. At the management level, food menu was modified reduce the calorie intake by at least 1000 Kcal per day for the test group and also cost less for the center. The kitchen staffs were trained to promote healthy cooking and improving the food taste. The satisfaction level of food service was also evaluated before and after the intervention, using a questionnaire. To analyze the findings, SPSS 16 software, independent t-test and paired t-test, and Macnemar test were used. The results showed that BMI in test group decreased from 27.5 +/- 2.36 to 26.8 +/- 2.15 [p<0.05], while in control group increased by 0.5 Kg/m[2]. Similar result was observed in weight change. The level of satisfaction of food service following changes in the menu increased significantly in both groups. Also, cost of food and use of fat were reduced by 15% and 8%, respectively. Dietary interventions and improving the nutritional knowledge along with modification in food service system could result in better weight management in organization staff using canteen food
RESUMEN
Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common chronic diseases in nearly all countries. It is difficult to treat and expensive to manage. The development of type 2 diabetes is strongly related to lifestyle factors, thus it might be a preventable disease. Observational studies and intervention trials have shown that physical activity, weight loss and dietary intake including whole grain, dietary fiber and dietary fat are important in delaying and preventing type 2 diabetes. The aim of this review is to gather current information from epidemiologic and clinical trial studies on dietary and lifestyle practices for reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes. The review focuses on the macro and micronutrients, food items and dietary patterns which have been identified as significant in the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes. Also, the role of physical activity and weight loss are presented
RESUMEN
Food labels play an important role in well being of consumers. As a part of it, date marking is a valid guide to shelf life of a food. The present study was done in 2010, in Smart Food Center, Wollongong; New South Wales, Australia to determine if the residents are familiar with date marking of food products. Data was accumulated by either interview guide or questionnaire method. Basic unselected samples of 200 shoppers were interviewed. Awareness of consumers about the method of date marking of food products, the frequency of purchasing spoiled or stale products, particularity about dates marked on food products before buying them, observation of the date marked on perishable and semi perishable food items, and satisfaction of consumers with the freshness and date marking of products were mainly studied. Out of 200 consumers who were interviewed, 112 [56%] supported date marking services. 128 [64%] consumers were well informed of the date making system. Most of the people in this group were between 35 to 44 years of age. 75% were or respondents women. The range of family income was between AUS$30000-750000 per months. There was no association between degree of knowledge of date marking and sex and educational level of consumers who purchased spoiled food products. Among consumers who purchased spoiled food items, a significant number were informed of date marking systems and used it when making purchases. Date marking has been observed by both male and female and was not related to their academic degrees
RESUMEN
Objective [s]: This study was carried out to determine the knowledge and practice of consumers in food labels and in Tehran, 2008-2009
Methods: In this descriptive and cross-sectional study, 2123 individuals were selected by random cluster sampling from the chain stores in Tehran. Data on demographics and knowledge and practice of consumers were collected by a questionnaire. The SPSS program and Chi2 test were used for data analysis
Results: In this study, the age range was 16-65 years and majority of them were 40-60 years. About 60% of the subjects were women. 80% of them were married and had at least diploma degree. A high percentage of consumers [44.2%] were in the lowest classification score of knowledge about the information printed on food packages. 82.8% of the subjects claimed they read food labels when shopping. The study of the consumers' views about the information printed on the food labels showed the satisfaction of about half of them, regarding the place and readability of the production and expiry date on food packages. However, more than half of subjects mentioned that nutrition information on food packages were non-readable and unintelligible, and were not in an appropriate position on the food packages. The findings revealed the effect of knowledge on the use of food labels. So those in the highest classification score of knowledge about food labels paid more attention to the food labels as compared with those in the lowest classification score of knowledge
Conclusion: This study showed that knowledge of people with information on food labels is very low and nutritional knowledge has a strong effect on nutritional practice. The results suggest that standardized food label designs, long term nutrition education, and training interpretation of information listed on food labels and the importance of using it in order to select the correct food to reduce the nutritional diseases is necessary