Effects of Nutritional Information on Food Choices on a College Campus

Department of Biology

Yik Han Chan, Kristen Domenick, and Rachel Hudes

Supervised by Professor Beth L. Leonberg, MS, RD, Instructor

MATERIALS & METHODS

ABSTRACT

In a study of first year college students, 80% gained an average of 5.3 lbs. People
who gain weight in college have a higher risk of being overweight or obese later on in
life. One contributor to weight gain in college may be the availability of fast food chain
restaurants on college campuses. Recent legislation mandates that chain restaurants
with more than 15 locations in the city of Philadelphia post the calorie content of food
and beverage items at the point of sale. This study was conducted in a fast food
chain (Taco Bell) and a coffee chain location (Starbucks), both located on Drexel
University's campus. Sales of 19 popular food and beverage items were evaluated
on a selected day both before and after calorie content was posted on menu boards.
Sales data for Taco Bell and Starbuck's showed little change when each item was
compared before and after to the total department sales. This indicates that the
presence of calorie information did not have a large affect on sales. An anonymous 5
question survey (Taco Bell n=200, Starbucks n=200) of the impact of having this
information posted on consumer choices was conducted within the first week after
calorie content was posted. Customers rated their responses using a 5-point Likert
scale, where 1=strongly agree, 3=neutral and 5=strongly disagree. The response of
Starbucks customers to the statement The presence of the calorie information
affected my food choice(s) was neutral (average rating 2.8). However, Taco Bell
customers tended to disagree with this statement (average rating 3.5). Survey results
for both establishments revealed a mixture of results indicating that the presence of
the calorie information affected some individuals decisions while others did not take
it into account. T test results comparing high, neutral and low calorie items for each
establishment revealed that none of the sales results were statistically different
before and after. More research needs to be done on the efficacy of posting calorie
information as a tool to reducing the incidence of obesity.

Anonymous Survey
Two hundred surveys were given out to consumers at both establishments after the nutritional information
was posted, with a total of four hundred distributed surveys. The average response for each question at
each establishment was calculated (see Table 2). The survey is displayed below in Table 1.

DISCUSSION
Paired dependent t tests were conducted for sales data from each category of high, neutral
and low calorie food and drink items from Starbucks and Taco Bell.
The t-tests displayed a p-value for each calorie category from both establishments as higher
then .05. This indicated that differences in sales were not significant.
Limitations:
Limited amount of data to analyze. Sales data from both establishments were restricted to 4
days only.

CONCLUSION
Fast food restaurants in Philadelphia are required by law to post calorie information on menu
boards beginning January 2010.
The impact on sales and consumer attitude of calorie information posted at Taco Bell and
Starbucks on the Drexel campus was evaluated.
Table 1.
Product Sales Data
Sales data from two days before and two days after the nutritional information was posted on menu boards
was analyzed for 21 items. Sales of each item as a percentage of total sales for the day were compared.
For statistical analysis, items were group according to high, neutral and low calorie items. T-tests were used
to determine whether sales were statistically different.

Our study indicated there was no affect of the posting of calorie information on total sales or
on the sales of high, neutral or low calorie items.
The presence of calorie information on menu boards did not appear to affect consumer
attitudes about the food items they purchase.

INTRODUCTION

FUTURE DIRECTION

Approximately 37% of college students are overweight or obese (27).

RESULTS

Terms such as The Freshmen 15 are often used to describe the 15 pounds that
freshmen put on during their first year of college (10).
Causes of college weight gain include: all you can eat dining plans, decreased fruits and
vegetable intake, easy access to junk and fast foods, transition to college from home,
stress, alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity (1, 2).
One third of Americans consume meals away from home which may contribute to
increased caloric intake due to the energy dense foods served in fast-food restaurant
chain (18)
Health officials proposed that menu labeling may help to decrease the incidence of
overweight and obesity because of the known association between fast foods and weight
gain (16). A study from the New England Journal of Medicine showed 73% of people in
New York reported their food choices were affected by calorie information displayed on
menus (21).
Starting on January 1st, 2010, Philadelphia chain restaurants with more than 15 outlets
are required to display nutrition information on their menus (24).
Menu labeling on college campuses may be an effective intervention to prevent weight
gain since food choices are limited and often include fast food restaurants (19).

Table 2: Displays the averages and standard deviations of the Starbucks and Taco Bell survey results.
Survey results were mixed when results were compared between establishments.

Longer study periods and the accessibility to more sales data will allow for a better
comparison between sales of items before and after calorie information posting on menu
boards.
Obtaining data from other campus establishments at Drexel University with menu board
labeling.
The use of male vs. female as an independent variable: Handing out a similar type of survey
that identifies sex to determine if responses significantly differ. Identify if there is a significant
difference between movement of products within the three calorie categories before and after
posting of calorie information depending on sex of customer.
Similar studies taking place at other college campuses throughout the nation. This could lead
to a meta analysis through a nationwide report that compares the data and results of posting
calorie information from colleges throughout the United States.

Table 2.

Table 3: Shows the T test results for Starbucks food and drink items and Taco Bell food items using PASW
software. P <.05 was used to accept or reject the null hypothesis. Since all numbers were greater than .05,
the null hypothesis was supported for all categories of food and drink items, meaning sales results before
and after the nutrition label was posted were not statistically different.

SPECIAL THANKS
. We would like to give a special thanks to Brian McCabe from Sodexo for providing us with
the necessary data to make completing our project possible.

HYPOTHESIS
Unhealthy and high-energy food items would be purchased less when nutritional
information is presented and low calorie items would be purchased more
when nutritional information is presented.
Anonymous survey would show that presence of caloric information would affect customer
decisions at the point of purchase.

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