11/15/2002

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Chow Line: Reading labels can make a difference (for 11/24/02)

Writer:

Martha Filipic
filipic.3@osu.edu
(614)292-9833

Source:

Jaime Ackerman

My husband was recently diagnosed with Type II diabetes, and he is suddenly finding all sorts of information on Nutrition Facts labels that he never saw before. Is this a common occurrence?

It makes sense. Your husband has come to the sudden realization of how diet can have a strong effect on his health. He's probably counting carbs to help control his blood glucose levels, using the Nutrition Facts label as a guideline. He may also be counting fat grams and calories to keep his diet in balance and help lose weight -- weight is often a factor associated with Type II diabetes.

It sounds like you have been aware of the information available on the Nutrition Facts labels for quite some time. That makes sense, too. In a study published in 1999 in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers found that women used the labels much more often than men. Consumers younger than 35 and those with at least a high school education also were more likely to use the labels.

That study also determined that individual beliefs play a factor in who reads labels and who doesn't. People who believed that it was important to eat a low-fat diet and those who believed in an association between diet and cancer were much more likely to read Nutrition Facts labels than those who didn't hold those beliefs. Also, those who were in the maintenance stage of adopting a low-fat diet also tended to use the labels more. At least some of these factors likely apply in your husband's case.

The best news is this: According to the study, using the Nutrition Facts labels was, in fact, associated with consuming less fat. The study's authors recommended that dietitians can use the results to emphasize to their clients the importance of reading nutrition labels.

Reading the labels isn't hard. One of the most important features is serving size and the number of servings -- to determine how many servings the package actually contains, and to make sure you're consuming the amount of food that all of the information on the label is based upon. For other tips on using the Nutrition Facts labels, see the Food and Drug Administration's Web site at http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/foodlab.html. Chow Line is a service of Ohio State University Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. Send questions to Chow Line, c/o Martha Filipic, 2021 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH 43210-1044, or filipic.3@osu.edu.

This column was reviewed by Jaime Ackerman, registered dietitian and Ohio State University Extension nutrition associate in the College of Human Ecology.