Moms more likely than dads to check for sugars on nutrition labels

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Oct. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Mothers are more likely than fathers to read nutrition labels when considering food and drink purchases, according to the latest C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health.

Results from the poll showed that 40 percent of mothers say they read the nutrition labels either "very often" or "always." Just 35 percent of fathers say they read the labels "very often" or "always."

Sugars (total sugar and added sugar) topped the list of "very important" nutrients that parents consider overall.

But mothers are more likely than fathers to say total sugar, added sugar, protein and dietary fiber are "very important."

The "Nutrition Facts" labels are required for most foods sold in the United States. For the first time in two decades, in 2014 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed key changes to the labels to feature clearer information about calories, fat, and sugar.

"The hope is that changes in the labels can make them easier to read and understand, and that will help consumers make healthier choices," says Susan J. Woolford, M.D., M.P.H., a faculty collaborator in this month's poll.

"We decided to find out how mothers and fathers currently use the labels, and how they think about the information that's contained there."

In the poll, 1,481 parents were also asked about using the labels when comparing two similar foods or drinks to buy. Forty-six percent of mothers versus 33 percent of fathers said that information from the nutrition label "very often" or "always" influences their decisions.  More fathers (16 percent) than mothers (10 percent) indicated they never read nutrition labels.

Woolford says she was surprised how many parents, particularly fathers, don't use the labels.

"We didn't ask specifically for the reasons why parents do not use food labels in this poll, so it's hard to pinpoint a cause with certainty. But it may be that parents find it difficult to make the connection between the information on the nutrition facts labels and what it means for their health and their child's health," says Woolford, who is medical director of the Pediatric Comprehensive Weight Management Center at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and a member of the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation.

"It's also possible that they have already made decisions about what they plan to purchase, and the nutrition information is not a factor they consider.  Nonetheless, it is still important for fathers to make nutritious choices that safeguard their children's health," Woolford says.

"The results of this poll indicate an opportunity for further research into how we can improve the nutrition facts labels so they might be something that parents – both mothers and fathers –use and so that they provide information in a manner that promotes healthy food choices."

Broadcast-quality video is available on request. See the video here: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJilDT4W9G4

Full report: http://mottnpch.org/reports-surveys/nutrition-facts-how-moms-and-dads-view-labels-differently

Resource: Proposed Changes to FDA Food Labels http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/LabelingNutrition/ucm385663.htm

Website: Check out the Poll's website: MottNPCH.org. You can search and browse over 90 NPCH Reports, suggest topics for future polls, share your opinion in a quick poll, and view information on popular topics. The National Poll on Children's Health team welcomes feedback, please contact us at: [email protected].

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Twitter: @MottNPCH

Purpose/Funding: The C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health – based at the Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit at the University of Michigan and funded by the University of Michigan Health System – is designed to measure major health care issues and trends for U.S. children.

Data Source: This Report presents findings from a nationally representative household survey conducted exclusively by GfK Custom Research, LLC (GfK), for C.S. Mott Children's Hospital via a method used in many published studies.  The survey was administered in June 2014 to a randomly selected, stratified group of parents with a child  age 0 to 17 (n=1,481) from GfK's web-enabled KnowledgePanel® that closely resembles the U.S. population. The sample was subsequently weighted to reflect population figures from the Census Bureau. The survey completion rate was 53 percent among panel members contacted to participate. The margin of error is ± 3 to 5 percentage points.

Findings from the U-M C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health do not represent the opinions of the investigators or the opinions of the University of Michigan. 

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SOURCE C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health

Related Links

http://www.med.umich.edu