Exploring enhanced menu labels' influence on fast food selections and exercise-related attitudes, perceptions, and intentions.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to evaluate whether adding physical activity equivalents (miles of walking) to calorie labels on fast food menus influenced food selection and exercise-related attitudes.
Results Summary
The study found that calorie labels, with or without walking equivalents, had little effect on food ordering behavior or exercise-related outcomes, with some counterintuitive increases in calories ordered and perceptions of exercise as less enjoyable in informational conditions.
Population
643 participants in an online study, randomly assigned to labeling conditions.
Effective Dosage
Not applicable
Duration
Single session (online menu ordering task and survey)
Interactions
None mentioned
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labeling restaurant menus with calorie counts | no change | behavior | - | small, inconsistent | have small, inconsistent effects | #1 |
Supplementing calorie counts with physical activity equivalents | increase | behavior | - | stronger | may produce stronger results | #2 |
no information, calories-only, and calories plus equivalent miles of walking labels | no change | fast food item selection | Participants (N = 643) | little | had little effect | #3 |
no information, calories-only, and calories plus equivalent miles of walking labels | no change | total calories ordered | Participants (N = 643) | no significant differences | no significant differences | #4 |
no information, calories-only, and calories plus equivalent miles of walking labels | increase | calories ordered | Participants (N = 643) | - | counterintuitive increases | #5 |
no information, calories-only, and calories plus equivalent miles of walking labels | no change | exercise-related outcomes | Participants (N = 643) | little | had little impact | #6 |
no information, calories-only, and calories plus equivalent miles of walking labels | decrease | exercise enjoyment | Participants (N = 643) | less | perceived exercise as less enjoyable | #7 |
Labeling restaurant menus with calorie counts is a popular public health intervention, but research shows these labels have small, inconsistent effects on behavior. Supplementing calorie counts with physical activity equivalents may produce stronger results, but few studies of these enhanced labels have been conducted, and the labels' potential to influence exercise-related outcomes remains unexplored. This online study evaluated the impact of no information, calories-only, and calories plus equivalent miles of walking labels on fast food item selection and exercise-related attitudes, perceptions, and intentions. Participants (N = 643) were randomly assigned to a labeling condition and completed a menu ordering task followed by measures of exercise-related outcomes. The labels had little effect on ordering behavior, with no significant differences in total calories ordered and counterintuitive increases in calories ordered in the two informational conditions in some item categories. The labels also had little impact on the exercise-related outcomes, though participants in the two informational conditions perceived exercise as less enjoyable than did participants in the no information condition, and trends following the same pattern were found for other exercise-related outcomes. The present findings concur with literature demonstrating small, inconsistent effects of current menu labeling strategies and suggest that alternatives such as traffic light systems should be explored.