The Relationship between Nutrition Knowledge and Nutrition Facts Table Use in China: A Structural Equation Model

Zeying Huang, Beixun Huang and Jiazhang Huang
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Zeying Huang: Institute of Food and Nutrition Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing 100081, China
Beixun Huang: Institute of Food and Nutrition Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing 100081, China
Jiazhang Huang: Institute of Food and Nutrition Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing 100081, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 12, 1-12

Abstract: Since 2013, China has implemented a nutrition label regulation that aims to provide essential nutrition information through nutrition facts tables labeled on the back of food packages. Yet, the relationship between people’s nutrition knowledge and their nutrition label use remains less clear. This study adopted the structural equation modeling approach to analyze a nationally representative survey of 1500 Chinese individuals through the cognitive processing model, interrelated nutrition knowledge, attention to nutrition information on the nutrition facts table, comprehension of nutrition information, food choice and dietary intake. It was found that nutrition knowledge positively influenced attention to nutrition information; a better comprehension of nutrition information, which could benefit healthier food choices, did not relate to a higher level of attention to that information; dietary intake was affected significantly by nutrition knowledge, but it had little impact on food choice. The results signify that nutrition knowledge hardly supports nutrition facts table use among the Chinese people, mainly due to incomprehensible labeled information. Therefore, it emphasizes the need to enhance people’s comprehension through front-of-package labels and corresponding smartphone applications.

Keywords: nutrition knowledge; nutrition label; food label; structural equation modeling; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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