Constance J. Geiger

Usefulness of Nutrition Facts Label for Persons With Chronic Kidney Disease

OBJECTIVE We sought to determine what information should be included on the nutrition facts label (NFL) to improve its usefulness for individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD). DESIGN Our survey asked for frequency of food-label reading, use of information on the label related to specific nutrients, and perceived needs. SETTING Our survey was internet-based. SUBJECTS Our subjects included 317 individuals with CKD and caregivers who self-subscribed to electronic mailing lists maintained by nationally based groups providing education and/or support for individuals with CKD. INTERVENTION The intervention consisted of an analysis of survey results. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Main outcome measures included respondent self-reported behaviors, opinions, attitudes, knowledge, and perceived needs related to the NFL in terms of foods and beverages. RESULTS Survey respondents (81.8%) rated nutrition as important (39.2%) or very important (42.6%) when making food choices. A roughly equal number (82.6%) indicated reading the NFL often for the amounts of nutrients in a food. However, less than one fourth of the respondents (24.0%) were able to determine the amount of calcium in a food correctly, based on percent daily value (%DV), and many (64.6%) indicated they did not know how to convert the %DV to an absolute amount (the 100% daily value for calcium is 1000 mg). Respondents indicated that they decided not to purchase foods that did not list absolute amounts of nutrients of concern (58.4% for potassium, and 53.9% for phosphorus) on the NFL. CONCLUSIONS Individuals with CKD would prefer, or find it more useful, to see nutrients of concern listed in absolute amounts on the NFL. They also indicated that potassium and phosphorus should be required on the label, to allow the option of determining whether to include a food in their diet.

Putting the Dietary Guidelines for Americans into Action: Behavior-Directed Messages to Motivate Parents—Phase III Quantitative Message Testing and Survey Evaluation

T HE 2010 DIETARY GUIdelines for Americans (DGA) and the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans provide the foundation fordieteticspractitioners to communicate healthful diet, physical activity, and lifestyle messages.With two thirds of adults andone third of children overweight or obese, recent guidance emphasizes balancing calorie intake with physical activity and selecting nutrient-dense foods. Still,many consumers struggle to achieve healthful diet and physical activity behaviors. Althoughmany consumers are aware of the basic tenets of a healthful lifestyle, consistent application of diet and physical activity recommendations to daily life is not widespread. A large part

Putting the dietary guidelines for Americans into action: behavior-directed messages to motivate parents--phase I and II observational and focus group findings.

Limited consumer research studying messaging for the DGA recommendations has been conducted, although such research is critical for designing messages with the greatest potential for motivating individuals to action. 10-13 To address consumer challenges in incorporating recommendations, the Dietary Guidelines Alliance—a private–public partnership among leading food, nutrition, and health societies and industry organizations, in liaison with the US Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services—conducted observational research, focus group studies, and a web-based survey of parents with children aged 2 to 17 years. The purpose of these studies was to identify current behavioral practices and beliefs in an effort to develop and test behavior-directed messages to help families achieve healthful, active lifestyles, consistent with the DGA. A secondary purpose was to determine parents’ intent to implement related guidance behaviors. Perceived barriers to and motivators for success were also identified.

Consumers' perceptions of mental and physical energy: Focus group results

Abstract Consumers definitions of energy could serve as a basis for structure/function claims. Therefore, this research explored consumers descriptions of mental and physical energy by obtaining their responses to 2 ways to characterize energy: (1) peaks and valleys and (2) gold standard (accomplished all you want to) and off days. Seven focus groups were conducted in Bethesda, MD, and Denver, CO (Summer 2001): women 25-55 yr (2 groups), men 25-55 yr (2 groups) and men and women 56-75 yr (3 groups) (N = 65). Terms used from peak and valley descriptions were extracted from the taped interviews, and the top 5 terms used to characterize gold standard and off-days were circled on a sheet of paper. Descriptive statistics were conducted on all measurements. Terms were categorized to allow comparisons among groups. The top categories used to describe energy peaks (aided) were happiness (24), energy (17), high performance (15) and mental alertness (11) compared to the top aided categories for gold standard days, which were happiness (108), energy (72), mental alertness (43) and calmness (4). The top categories for energy valleys were unhappiness (19), lack of energy (19), calmness (10) and nonsociaibility (6), compared to lack of energy (119), unhappiness (62), anger (36) and low performance (30) for off-days. Many participants believe mental and physical energy are connected whereas a few say physical energy creates mental energy. These results can be used as the basis for further research to develop a valid, reliable method for substantiating mental and physical energy claims.

The Effect of a Variety of Nutrition Label Format Alignments on Recognition, Application and Total Comprehension Scores of Consumers

Abstract In order for a nutrition label to be effective, consumers must comprehend the format and find it visually appealing. FDA was frustrated in its attempt to find a format that consumers preferred and could comprehend. Our study evaluated five food label formats [tabular control, bar graph (Geiger, et al., 1991). highlighted bar graph, adjectival, and pie chart] to determine if there were any significant correlations between consumer preference and recognition, application and total comprehension scores. We hypothesized, by changing only the format and holding all other information and information load constant, that there should be significant correlations between preference scores (utilities) and comprehension scores, or at the very least, no significant differences (negative correlations). A shopping mall intercept study using a computer interactive interview was completed on 121 subjects in a major mall in Salt Lake City, Utah, as a component of a larger study. Formats were printed on Swansons TV dinners. Each respondent answered a block of four comprehension questions for each format which assessed recognition, application and total comprehension. Order of labels and questions responses were randomized. Differences among comprehension of formats were determined by Friedmans nonparametric two-way ANOVA with an associated multiple comparison test. Preference scores were determined using adaptive conjoint analysis for each format after the comprehension questions were completed. Correlations were performed between utility scores for each format and the number of correct questions for recognition, application and total comprehension questions. Consumers significantly preferred (p