142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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300551
Impact of Menu Labeling on Adolescents in Four Diverse Los Angeles Communities

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Valerie Ruelas, LCSW , Medicine/Endocrinology, USC Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA
Ellen Iverson, MPH , Department of Adolescent Medicine, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Jennifer Jackson, MPH , Division of Adolescent Medicine, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Meghan Treese, BS , Adolescent Medicine, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Cesar Arauz, AAS , Adolescent Medicine, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Background: The 2010 Federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act mandates that fast food/chain restaurants with over 19 outlets clearly display calorie content of all menu items. The impact of calorie menu labeling on adolescents is unclear, especially when comparing communities with significant differences in rates of overweight/obesity and access to healthy food choices.

Methods: Venue exit surveys assessed the impact of menu labeling on adolescent consumers of two fast food chain restaurants in four diverse socio-demographic Los Angeles County communities – East Los Angeles (ELA) South Los Angeles (SLA), Culver City (CC) and Manhattan Beach (MB).

 Key Results:  The majority of respondents ate fast food ≥ once a week (ELA- 80%, SLA 88%, MB & CC - >95%); 57% considered the purchase a snack between meals. Over half (56%) noticed menu labeling though 15% found the information confusing. Noticing information was similar among gender and by venue, however, females’ orders were more likely to be influenced by the information, though females found it more confusing than males. Overall, 12% noticing calorie information were influenced enough to make order changes. Nearly18% of respondents reported not knowing how many calories they should eat daily (range: 200-16,000; mean: 1,498). When asked about weight, 21% of males and 38% of females reported being slightly overweight or overweight.

 Discussion: Calorie postings does not appear to significantly impact purchasing behavior. Limited knowledge of appropriate calorie intake likely impacts the meaning of posted calories. More calorie education and clearer posting is needed to adequately inform consumers.

Learning Areas:

Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Identify difference of the impact of menu labeling between socio-diverse communities; List factors that motivate purchasing behavior for adolescents; and Discuss how lack of knowledge regarding calories and difficulty in recognizing posted calorie information impedes the menu labeling mandate.

Keyword(s): Adolescents, Nutrition

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to be an abstract Author on the content I am responsible for because I am the Co-Principal Investigator on the study. I lead the development of the intercept survey, managed the data collection team, and conducted data analysis. I have been involved in obesity and diabetes related research since 2002 and most recently completed research on menu labeling effect on parents and young children that was presented at APHA last year.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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