Korean J Community Nutr.  2020 Jun;25(3):179-188. 10.5720/kjcn.2020.25.3.179.

Evaluation of Dietary Quality and Nutritional Status according to the Use of Nutrition Labeling and Nutrition Claims among University Students in Chungbuk Area - Based on Nutrition Quotient

• Bae YJ
• Park SY
• Bak HR

• KMID: 2504058
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5720/kjcn.2020.25.3.179

Abstract

Objectives
The study examined the status on the use of nutrition labeling and nutrition claims among university students as well as the diet quality and nutritional status using the nutrition quotient (NQ) according to the use of nutrition labeling and claims.
Methods
A cross-sectional survey was conducted on university students (86 males and 131 females) from March to April in 2019 in Chungbuk area.
Results
The percentage of subjects who reported that they recognized nutrition labeling was 80.2% of the total, and 63.8% of them indicated that they used nutrition labeling for their food choices. In addition, 22.6% of the total subjects said that they used nutrition claims. The group of subjects using nutrition labeling showed significantly higher mean scores in balance (P < 0.01), diversity (P < 0.05), moderation (P < 0.01), and dietary behavior (P < 0.001) along with higher mean NQ score (P < 0.001) compared to the group not using nutrition labeling. The group using nutrition claims had significantly higher mean scores in balance (P < 0.001), diversity (P < 0.01), moderation (P < 0.001), and dietary behavior (P < 0.001) as well as total NQ scores (P < 0.001) compared to the group not using nutrition claims. The group of subjects using both nutrition labeling and nutrition claims showed significantly higher mean NQ scores than the group of subjects using either nutrition labeling or nutrition claims (P < 0.05).
Conclusions
In this study, university students' use of nutrition labeling and nutrition claims appeared to be related to their diet quality and nutritional status.

Keyword

nutrition labeling; nutrition claims; dietary quality; nutrition quotient; university students