Does Food Labeling Influence Long-term Food Intake and Eating-related Variables in Women?

Summary

Weight management is a critical issue in developed countries where the prevalence of obesity is always increasing. While the mismatch of energy intake and energy expenditure is recognized as a leading cause of obesity, knowledge related to the determinants of healthy eating patterns are still an important issue to further address. Various nutrition-education campaigns have been implemented as a way to increase knowledge about healthy foods and facilitate the adoption of better eating behaviors. There is currently social and politic pressure on health authorities to increase availability of nutrition information as a way to tackle the obesity epidemic. Does nutrition information on food labels really contribute to improving dietary intake among the population and to helping them to better manage their body weight? Some evidence suggests that describing foods as healthy might have unintended enhancement effects on the acute amount of food and calories consumed. A better understanding of how and why nutrient and calorie labels influence acute and chronic intake is thus needed. This study investigate how providing nutritional information on food labels influences intake and eating-related variables over a 10-day period among women characterized by varying levels of adiposity. As it has never been investigated before, the present research will provide important knowledge on the long-term impacts of different food labeling strategies on the regulation of food intake. It will also help to determine whether weight status could influence the effects of perceptions about foods on intake, so that the investigators can identify individuals who mostly tend to overeat in specific situations. Consumer advocacy organizations are urging government to adopt policies regarding food labeling. Such research is thus of great relevance for the promotion of healthy body weight at the population level, as it will clearly contribute to assess how food labels should be used by health governing bodies in the context of the obesity epidemic.

Conditions

• Obesity

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Nutrient-label

A label indicating that the lunch they will eat is low in saturated fat and free from trans fat will be posted on the containers.

BEHAVIORAL

Calorie-label

A label indicating the amount of calories for a fixed serving plus information about daily caloric requirement ("The recommended daily caloric intake for an average adult is 2000 calories") will be posted on the containers.

BEHAVIORAL

No label

Lunches will be free from labels, so that no nutritional information will be provided to the participants(control group).

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Laval University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Véronique Provencher, Ph.D. · Laval University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Masking

SINGLE

Model

FACTORIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

25 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2011-08-31

Primary Completion

2013-05-31

Completion

2015-04-30

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations