Chapter I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

A familiar scenario during lunchtime or break:

Students are eating in their favorite fast food chains talking to their friends or gazing

at their notebooks, their eyes bloodshot from staying up late. Then you see several students

are inside a convenience store buying a bag of chips and a bottle of soft drinks. And when

you look at them closely, you will see a student holding her notes with her right hand and

while eating junk foods using the other. These familiar scenarios keep on happening as

everyday of the school year. More students are tied to fast food chains and convenience store

without realizing they are not eating right.

And not even these college students are aware of their behavior in consuming food.

For primary reason, its because of their academic requirements and performance that they

insentient develop an eating habit that either they improve or keep until they grow old.

College is an important milestone for everyone. Its a period where students adjust a

new environment and put their academic performance on top of their priority list.

Unfortunately, sedentary lifestyle occurs to students because they are often just sitting in their

classrooms and without engaging to a lot of physical activities. The only way that they

maintain a healthy lifestyle is choosing what kind of food to eat for proper nutrition which

is usually taken for granted.

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 Proper nutrition is a critical component of human growth, development, and overall

health. Although the global population as a whole is more prosperous than ever, malnutrition

remains a leading public health problem throughout the world. The World Health

Organization (WHO) defines malnutrition as an imbalance, either a deficiency or an

excess, of the nutrient intake needed to sustain a healthy life (WHO, 2010, p.2). As the

definition implies, this imbalance can include consuming too many nutrients (overnutrition),

too few nutrients (undernutrition), or the inability to properly digest and absorb nutrients due

to disease or illness (secondary malnutrition). All forms of malnutrition increase the risk of

acquiring both infectious and noninfectious diseases, and can ultimately lead to premature

death.

One way to maintain nutrition health is by using the nutrition labels on packaged

foods. The nutrition facts panel has become a necessary tool to use when purchasing foods

because of the increase in diet related disease (Drichouti, Lazaridis & Nayga, 2010).

According to a research study, most undergraduate students are not aware of the high content

of calories, fat, saturated fat, and sodium in foods served by restaurants (Burton, Creyer, Kees

& Huggins, 2009).

Food label is any tag, brand, mark, pictorial or any descriptive matter written, printed,

stencilled, marked, embossed or impressed on, or attached to a container of food. Food

labelling includes any written, printed, or graphic matter that is presented on the label

accompanying the food, or is displayed near food for the purpose of promoting its sale

(Codex stan 1 -1985).

Food labels provide information from manufacturer to consumer about a particular

pre packaged food. The information may include name of the food, ingredients used in its

manufacture, nutritional composition, manufacture and expiry dates, recommended storage

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conditions, instructions for use etc. This information is useful as it assists consumers to make

informed choices during purchase of food (Samson, 2012).

In theory, the use of food labels can contribute to more informed decisions that work

against consumer impulses caused by advertisements (Mancino,, Todd, Lin, 2009). Although

food labels can be used to counteract the significant influence of advertisements, actual food

label use is low and sometimes when looking at food labels, consumers may not understand

the nutrition information provided (Grunert and Wills, 2010).

Food labels are found to be very important public health tools that are used to

promote a balanced diet; and hence enhance public health and wellbeing. Food label

information assists consumers to better understand the nutritional value of food and

enables them to compare the nutritional values of similar food products and to make ealthy

informed food choices based on the relevant nutrition information. (Al

Tamimi and Company, 2004)

Furthermore, one age group especially important to target is college students, given

their overall poor nutrition and that many are making decisions about what foods to purchase

and eat for the first time (Marietta, Welshimer, and Long Andersons, 2009). They are in the

process of establishing lifelong eating habits that often determine future tastes and patterns

that can influence health and risk of chronic diseases (Basarir and Sherif, 2012). To increase

effective label use in college population, it is important to understand factors that motivate or

inhibit their label use, and then address these factors through nutrition and food label

education.

Nutritionists refer to characteristics of eating habits as either healthy or unhealthy

while others refer to characteristics of eating habits as either good or bad. The foods that

college students choose to eat tend to be high in fat, cholesterol, and sodium which are

generally considered unhealthy (Cason and Wenrich, 2002). Thus, if their eating habits are

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not improved; college students are likely to follow unhealthy eating habits for the rest of their

adult lives (Story et al., 2002). Yet, many college students believe that they are too busy to

worry about their food choices. In addition, there is an increasing trend in the availability and

consumption of convenience foods that is energy-dense and inexpensive. Choices like

these cause, are an alarming concern for eating habits because they do not have nutritional

value. In determining how college students make decisions about consuming food, it will be

helpful to understand some of the social factors that impact their eating habits.

Eating habits in particular have a great bearing on health conditions, including risk of

coronary heart disease; stroke; cancers of the colon, breast, and prostate; and diabetes

(Adler and Newman, 2002, p.82).

If food labels are to significantly influence eating habits and improve nutrition, use of

labels must increase (Grunert and Wills, 2010; Ollberding, 2011). The low rate of food label

use is due to many factors including a lack of literacy and poor label content (Cowburn and

Stockley, 2005; Swartz, Braxton, and Viera, 2011). The Food and Drug Administration

(FDA) has recently proposed new updates to improve content and presentation of food labels

(FDA, 2014).

Currently, many books which are related to diet and Internet sources are based around

a similar idea that all high-calorie food needs to be eliminated or customized in order to lose

weight. There are very few studies to support the safety of these diets, or to evaluate the

impact. We need to study more about college students eating behavior or important factors

to evaluate eating behaviors (Wedig & Nock, 2010).

One aspect of promoting a healthy lifestyle within educational institutions is the

presence of required health and physical education courses. Although some studies suggest

that university-sponsored physical activity and health classes have the potential to positively

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affect the attitudes and behaviors of the students, others have been uncertain (Cardinal,

Jacques, & Levy, 2002).

In the meantime, knowledge about healthy foods and their labels may influence

people to develop a healthy diet, but there are very few studies which assessed how college

students knowledge of the nutritional value of healthy foods affected dietary choice. Few

studies have studied the eating behavior of college students (Galloway, Farrow, & Martz,

2009; Hekler, Gardner, & Robinson, 2010).

One way to help people improve their eating habits is to increase consumer food label

use for the purpose of planning healthy diets or meals (Misra, 2002). Food labels, specifically

the Nutrition Facts Label, provides percent daily value information that can show a person

how a food item fits into her/his daily nutrition needs, and can highlight information on fat,

saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium (Misra, 2002, p.307). In this paper the term food label

will be used synonymously with the Nutrition Facts Label. Food labels, in addition to

providing basic information about dietary guidelines, can potentially contribute to: a)

motivating consumers to eat more healthily, b) more informed consumer decisions, and c)

healthier food choices and eating habits (Cowburn and Stockley, 2005; Silverglade and

Heller, 2010; Ollberding, Wolf, Contento, 2011; Taylor and Wilkening, 2008; Todd and

Variyam, 2008). Labels provide percent daily value

This study will assess college students eating behavior according to their

understanding of food nutritional labels. An enhanced understanding of factors that influence

healthy food knowledge based on their labels and characteristics of healthy foods will enable

university foodservice or health-care providers to construct more effective interventions or

management for improving their health in this population. This research has the potential to

benefit the eating habits of university students which merits future consideration.

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 Statement of the Problem

This study entitled Understanding Food Nutritional Labels Among College

Students attempts to provide useful information to create a healthy lifestyle awareness for

college students La Salle Benilde, describe the factors on their understanding of food labels

that influence their eating habits, and develop awareness of healthy food choice for college

students.

Specifically, the study seeks to answer the following questions:

1. Where do college students get information about healthy foods?

2. What factors motivate or prevent college students from using or frequently using food

labels to support their eating habits?

3. What are the eating behaviors of college students?

4. Do demographic characteristics affect college students understanding of food

nutritional labels?

5. Do demographic characteristics affect college students concerned about healthy

foods?

Significance of the Study

Many researchers have explored factors related to label use, and have found it is

important to increase rates of use (Cowburn and Stockley, 2005; Ollberding, 2010; Swartz et

al., 2011). Hieke (2012), in a Critical Review of the Literature on Nutritional Labeling,

argues that previous researchers have been more narrow in their research focus and there is a

need for in-depth interviews that can provide insights on cognitive processes addressing

why questions related to label use (2012). Thus, this study uses in depth interviews to

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explore food label use by college students to understand and address why questions related

to food label use. Again, to promote label use we must first understand perceptions related to

label use (Drichoutis et. al., 2010; Taylor and Wilkening, 2008; Todd and Variyam, 2008).

Researchers have also recommended further food label education to promote its use

(Cowburn and Stockley, 2005; Drichoutis et. al., 2006; Guthrie et. al, 1995; Smith, Taylor

and Stephen, 2000; Taylor and Wilkening, 2008).

The purpose of the study is to deepen and broaden our understanding of food

nutritional labels that will influence eating habits of the college students and use this

information to create a healthy lifestyle catered for the students.

Result of this study will be of importance to the following:

Foodservice Management The study will serve as guide and basis to help them to

create specific healthy food choices for the college students of La Salle Benilde.

School Admin This study will provide insights to promote awareness of the

significance of eating healthy for their students and can develop specific programs to help

their students choose a healthy lifestyle despite of their busy schedule.

Students The findings of the study will be able to give them a wake-up call to

reflect their current lifestyle and thus, making the right choice to be healthy.

Researcher This study will help further knowledge on the awareness of eating

habits of the college students and how it can be a guide to develop a healthy lifestyle

program. Also, the current study provides an agenda for future research and development in

response to continuous search for contemporary approaches to address further the relevance

of awareness of eating habits.

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 Scope and Limitations

This research studys coverage includes useful information to create a healthy

lifestyle awareness for college students, describe the factors on their understanding of food

labels that influence their eating habits, and develop awareness of healthy food choice for

college students. Descriptive retrospective approach will be discussed extensively in Chapter

3, on the studys methodology.

The sample consists of college students located in Manila. Even though this study

reported on the students understanding of food nutritional labels and eating behavior, these

cannot be generalized. Due to the nature of the sample, the results may not be representative

of all college students in the Philippines. Only the college students in Manila will serve as the

respondents of the study. Exempted from the study are other students that do not enroll in

these school.

The time frame for this study is from October 2017 up to November 2017, covering

the data gathering period and December 2017 for processes and analysis, writing up for the

report and final thesis. Thus, any or all developments that occurred thereafter are deemed

excluded. These developments may contain situations in the transpiration alternatives and

other future trends that may influence the findings, observations and recommendations of the

study.

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 Conceptual Framework

Formulation of the problem

And the research questions

Methodology

Data Gathering
Frameworks of
Reference
(Literature)

Analysis

Conclusions

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework of the Study

The first step in doing this research was the formulation of the problem and the

creation of the research questions. Thereafter, the proponent think about the methodology

that will be best fit the problem under research. Next, he will gather secondary data in the

form of books and articles in order to improve our understanding of the research problem. At

this time, the proponent will have to start writing the research outline. The questionnaire

about eating habits and food nutritional beliefs of the college students will be based on the

knowledge of the theoretical research.

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 Thereby, several decisions in data gathering such as the form of the questions, the

language used in the questionnaire, as well as the procedure in performing the survey

instrument has to be made. The questionnaire will be tested and several days later will be

delivered to selected respondents. After which the respondents answer the questionnaires, it

will be collected and a period of editing and analyzing the data will begin. These results will

be used to get a deeper understanding of the study. During the entire time between

determining the methodology and the end of writing down the analysis the frameworks of

reference was created. Finally, adding the conclusion and the closing comments will be

completed for this study.

Definition of Terms

Eating Habits The way a person or group eats, considered in terms of what types of food

are eaten, in what quantities, and when (collinsdictionary.com)

Healthy Lifestyle It is one which helps to keep and improve peoles health and well-being

(wikipedia.com)

Nutrition It is a nourishment or energy that is obtained from food consumed or the process

of consuming the proper amount of nourishment and energy (yourdictionary.com).

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 References

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from Centre for Food Safety (2006) Benefit of Nutrition information on Food Labels.
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Basarir, A. and Sherif, S. (2012) Consumers awareness of food labelling: A case
study of United Arab Emirates. Africa Journal of Agricultural Research vol.7 (28),
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