Nutr Res Pract.  2015 Dec;9(6):667-672. 10.4162/nrp.2015.9.6.667.

The effect of providing nutritional information about fast-food restaurant menus on parents' meal choices for their children

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Food and Nutrition, Myongji University, 116 Myongji-ro, Cheoin-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi 449-728, Korea. zeromi@mju.ac.kr
  • 2Department of Retail, Hospitality and Tourism Management, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, United States.
  • 3Department of Food and Nutrition, Honam University, Gwangju 506-714, Korea.
  • 4Nutritional Education, Graduate School of Education, Myongji University, Seoul 120-728, Korea.

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES
To encourage healthier food choices for children in fast-food restaurants, many initiatives have been proposed. This study aimed to examine the effect of disclosing nutritional information on parents' meal choices for their children at fast-food restaurants in South Korea.
SUBJECTS/METHODS
An online experimental survey using a menu board was conducted with 242 parents of children aged 2-12 years who dined with them at fast-food restaurants at least once a month. Participants were classified into two groups: the low-calorie group (n = 41) who chose at least one of the lowest calorie meals in each menu category, and the high-calorie group (n = 201) who did not. The attributes including perceived empowerment, use of provided nutritional information, and perceived difficulties were compared between the two groups.
RESULTS
The low-calorie group perceived significantly higher empowerment with the nutritional information provided than did the high-calorie group (P = 0.020). Additionally, the low-calorie group was more interested in nutrition labeling (P < 0.001) and considered the nutritional value of menus when selecting restaurants for their children more than did the high-calorie group (P = 0.017). The low-calorie group used the nutritional information provided when choosing meals for their children significantly more than did the high-calorie group (P < 0.001), but the high-calorie group had greater difficulty using the nutritional information provided (P = 0.012).
CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that improving the empowerment of parents using nutritional information could be a strategy for promoting healthier parental food choices for their children at fast-food restaurants.

Keyword

Fast-food restaurant; nutritional labeling; children; parents; meal choice

MeSH Terms

Child*
Food Labeling
Humans
Korea
Meals*
Nutritive Value
Parents
Power (Psychology)
Restaurants*

Figure

  • Fig. 1 Calories selected (kcal). *** P < 0.001


Cited by  1 articles

Impacts of menu information quality and nutrition information quality on technology acceptance characteristics and behaviors toward fast food restaurants' kiosk
Jihee Han, Hyeyoung Moon, Yoonha Oh, Ji Yun Chang, Sunny Ham
Nutr Res Pract. 2020;14(2):167-174.    doi: 10.4162/nrp.2020.14.2.167.


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