College students' attitude toward menu labeling differs by sex, BMI, weight management status, and athletic type.

Objective Determine students' attitude toward menu labeling before and after menu labeling implementation at university dining facility. Participants: College students aged 18 years and older eating at campus dining facility. Methods: Survey on attitude toward menu labeling, weight management status, and athletic classification (NCAA, recreational, or non-athlete) was completed 30 days pre- and post-menu labeling implementation. Results: Females showed stronger positive attitude toward menu labeling. Students trying to lose or gain weight had stronger positive attitudes toward menu labeling than students maintaining weight, as did overweight students compared to normal weight students. NCAA athletes had lower attitude mean scores toward menu labeling than other athletic classifications. Conclusion: Attitude toward menu labeling varies by students' gender, body mass index (BMI), and weight management focus, with NCAA athletes having the least positive attitude. Focus future research on effective ways to inform students on menu labeling in university dining facilities in order to nutritionally engage young adults.

Food insecurity is associated with disordered eating behaviors in NCAA division 1 male collegiate athletes.

Objective: To assess the relationship of high school and collegiate household food security to current disordered food consumption behaviors in a sample of NCAA Division 1 male, collegiate athletes. Participants: Male athletes, 18 years and older from a Southeastern Conference university in August-September 2016. Methods: Cross-sectional survey including food security disordered eating behavior, and food hoarding questions. Results: Among participants (n = 111), high school food insecurity was significantly correlated with a preoccupation with food, but not binge eating in college. Collegiate food insecurity was significantly correlated with a preoccupation with, and hoarding of, food in college. Conclusions: Among male collegiate athletes, both high school and collegiate food insecurity are associated with preoccupation with food, and collegiate food insecurity is associated with food hoarding. Screening for both high school and collegiate food insecurity and disordered behaviors in athletes is warranted. Future research in a larger sample, including females, across institutions is warranted.

Attitude and Behavior Factors Associated with Front-of-Package Label Use with Label Users Making Accurate Product Nutrition Assessments.

BACKGROUND: Front-of-package (FOP) labels are increasing in popularity on retail products. Reductive FOP labels provide nutrient-specific information, whereas evaluative FOP labels summarize nutrient information through icons. Better understanding of consumer behavior regarding FOP labels is beneficial to increasing consumer use of nutrition labeling when making grocery purchasing decisions. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine FOP label format effectiveness in aiding consumers at assessing nutrient density of food products. In addition, we sought to determine relationships between FOP label use and attitude toward healthy eating, diet self-assessment, self-reported health and nutrition knowledge, and label and shopping behaviors. DESIGN: A between-subjects experimental design was employed. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four label conditions: Facts Up Front, Facts Up Front Extended, a binary symbol, and no-label control. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: One hundred sixty-one US primary grocery shoppers, aged 18 to 69 years. Participants were randomly invited to the online study. INTERVENTION: Participants in one of four label condition groups viewed three product categories (cereal, dairy, and snacks) with corresponding questions. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Adults' nutrition assessment of food products based on different FOP label formats, along with label use and attitude toward healthy eating, diet self-assessment, self-reported health and nutrition knowledge, and label and shopping behaviors. STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: Data analyses included descriptive statistics, χ2 tests, and logistical regression. Significant outcomes were set to α=.05. RESULTS: Participants selected the more nutrient-dense product in the snack food category when it contained an FOP label. Subjective health and nutrition knowledge and frequency of selecting food for healthful reasons were associated with FOP label use (P<0.01 and P<0.05, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Both Facts Up Front (reductive) and binary (evaluative) FOP labels appear effective for nutrition assessment of snack products compared with no label. Specific attitude and behavior factors were associated with label use.

The effects of restaurant nutrition menu labelling on college students' healthy eating behaviours.

OBJECTIVE: According to the US Affordable Care Act, restaurant chains are required to provide energy (calorie) and other nutrition information on their menu. The current study examined the impact of menu labelling containing calorie information and recommended daily calorie intake, along with subjective nutrition knowledge, on intention to select lower-calorie foods prior to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. DESIGN: Full factorial experimental design with participants exposed to four variants of a sample menu in a 2 (presence v. absence of calorie information) ×2 (presence v. absence of recommended daily calorie intake). SETTING: Large, public university in the Southwest USA. SUBJECTS: Primarily undergraduate college students. RESULTS: Majority of participants were 19-23 years of age (mean 21·8 (sd 3·6) years). Menu information about calorie content and respondents' subjective nutrition knowledge had a significantly positive impact on students' intention to select lower-calorie foods (ß=0·24, P<0·001 and ß=0·33, P<0·001, respectively); however, recommended daily calorie intake information on the menu board did not influence students' intention to select lower-calorie foods (ß=0·10, P=0·105). Gender played a significant role on purchase intent for lower-calorie menu items, with females more affected by the calorie information than males (ß=0·37, P<0·001). CONCLUSIONS: Findings support the role menu labelling can play in encouraging a healthier lifestyle for college students. College students who are Generation Y desire healthier menu options and accept nutritional labels on restaurant menus as a way to easily and expediently obtain nutrition information.

Service quality, satisfaction, and behavioral intention in home delivered meals program.

This study was conducted to evaluate recipients' perception of service quality, satisfaction, and behavioral intention in home delivered meals program in the US. Out of 398 questionnaires, 265 (66.6%) were collected, and 209 questionnaires (52.5%) were used for the statistical analysis. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) with a maximum likelihood was first conducted to estimate the measurement model by verifying the underlying structure of constructs. The level of internal consistency in each construct was acceptable, with Cronbach's alpha estimates ranging from 0.7 to 0.94. All of the composite reliabilities of the constructs were over the cutoff value of 0.50, ensuring adequate internal consistency of multiple items for each construct. As a second step, a Meals-On-Wheels (MOW) recipient perception model was estimated. The model's fit as indicated by these indexes was satisfactory and path coefficients were analyzed. Two paths between (1) volunteer issues and behavioral intention and (2) responsiveness and behavioral intention were not significant. The path for predicting a positive relationship between food quality and satisfaction was supported. The results show that having high food quality may create recipient satisfaction. The findings suggest that food quality and responsiveness are significant predictors of positive satisfaction. Moreover, satisfied recipients have positive behavioral intention toward MOW programs.