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Children's eating habits are influenced by numerous social and individual factors. The present study aimed to evaluate the connection between nutrition knowledge of children and their eating habits as well as their attitudes towards healthy eating habits.

The research study included 630 11-year-old children from 27 randomly selected Slovenian schools. During the research, children attended the sixth grade of the nine-year elementary school and on average were subject to 38.6 h of mandatory nutritional contents, which are planned in the curriculum of home economics. At the end of the school year, nutrition knowledge was checked with a knowledge test consisting of 27 questions. Considering the achieved results, children were classified into three knowledge categories: low, fairly good, and good nutrition knowledge. Children's eating habits were assessed with a food-frequency questionnaire, while the five-degree Likert scale was used to assess their attitudes to healthy eating habits. Differences in children's eating habits and attitudes in reference to the category of knowledge were determined through analysis of variance.

The results demonstrated that children with better nutrition knowledge have healthier eating habits and a more positive attitude towards them than children with poor nutrition knowledge.

The study results demonstrate the link between children's nutrition knowledge and attitudes on the one hand and eating habits on the other which justifies the importance of providing formal and informal nutrition education to children.

The aim of this study is to explore older adults' nutrition information needs. The paper seeks to describe the development and findings of a nutrition information needs assessment among older adults, with the application of principles of adult learning.

A telephone survey among 321 older adults who were between 60 and 80 years old in the Midwest was conducted. The study was guided by principles of adult learning, and by self‐efficacy, a key‐construct of social cognitive theory.

The majority reported to be white, with a mean age of 69 years. In total, 95 percent rated their knowledge about nutrition, and their interest in healthy eating as excellent/very good/ or good. Preferred nutrition information sources were health professionals, sources they have at home, nutrition classes, flyers/brochures/health newsletters, and public libraries. The majority was interested in information about eating healthfully, heart healthy diets, and strategies for healthy eating. The majority stated they think about taste and feeling better when they choose their food, and fewer participants stated they think about cost, convenience, losing weight, and better appearance. Major motivations to eat healthier were maintaining their health status, preventing disease and disability, as well as personal fitness.

This research is an example of how using adult learning principles in combination with behavior change theories may be helpful in the assessment of nutrition information needs among older adults, and the design of nutrition information interventions in the future.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the socio‐demographic and health variables of a representative sample of Croatian subjects over 15 years of age associated with reading nutrition labels and, in particular, to examine the association of age characteristics of “label users” with nutrition reading habits.

A total of 1,011 randomly selected subjects over 15 years of age were interviewed by telephone. Moreover, 638 “label users” were recruited for assessing nutrition label habits.

Of the subjects, 36 per cent claimed that they had never, 25 per cent rarely, 19 per cent always and 15 per cent sometimes read nutrition labels. Females, participants with the highest levels of education, still undergoing education, physically active and on special diets claimed that they were more likely to read nutrition labels. Among “label users”, younger participants mentioned “curiosity” as the most important reason for reading nutrition labels, while older participants more often pointed out “wish for healthy eating habits”. “Interpretational aids” were often mentioned among younger participants for easier understanding of nutritional information, while older participants requested “bigger letter size”.

The present study provides a starting point for establishing nutrition education targeted at specific groups of consumers. Research is limited to the subject's self‐reported nutrition label reading. Future research is needed to explore the differences between “label users” and “’non‐users”.

As the study showed, a notable difference exists between younger and older subjects regarding nutrition habits that could help experts toward effective communication. Nevertheless, the study could fill the research gaps in nutrition reading habits of specific groups of consumers in European countries, other than northern Europe.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of a holistic school-based nutrition programme using the health-promoting school (HPS) approach, on teachers’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviour in relation to nutrition in rural China.

A cluster-randomised intervention trial design was employed. Two middle schools were randomly selected and assigned to either the intervention school using the HPS framework (HPS School), or to the Control School, in Miyun County, Beijing. From each school 20 teachers were randomly selected to complete the survey. Nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviour were measured at pre- and post-intervention surveys with the same instrument. The nutrition intervention last for six months.

The holistic school-based nutrition programme using the HPS framework had no statistical impact on improving teacher’s knowledge, attitudes and behaviour in relation to nutrition (p > 0.05).

Future holistic school-based nutrition programmes targeting adolescents should also design and implement longer and more intensive interventions for teachers focusing on how to equip them with the awareness and ability to disseminate their knowledge, positive attitudes and role model behaviours to students, rather than on how to teach them basic knowledge and skills.

Although teachers play a critical role in the HPS framework, there is very limited published research investigating the change in teachers’ nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviour as a result of a nutrition promotion programme.

To survey consumers living in Paris, France, to determine the extent to which they use nutrition labels, and to determine the percentage of French consumers who use nutrition labels, how often they use nutrition labels, and how they would like to see current nutrition labels improved. The researchers also wanted to determine the reasons why consumers do not use nutrition labels, and to try and assess users' and non‐users' perceptions about mandatory nutrition labelling.

French consumers (n  =  355) were surveyed in supermarkets in Paris and its suburbs, using a 21‐item questionnaire in May 2004. Interviewers used questionnaires to assess the frequency of respondents' nutrition label use, to investigate the specific nutrient information most commonly consulted on nutrition labels, the types of products on which consumers most often tend to consult nutrition labels, and to collect demographic information.

Only 45.1 per cent of the sample reported reading nutrition labels, with the majority of consumers reading labels only occasionally. Non‐label readers cited lack of interest as the primary reason why they do not read labels, but 95 per cent of the sample, when asked about mandatory nutrition labeling, felt that nutrition labeling should be required of food manufacturers. Research limitations/implications The sample size was small, participation was voluntary and was limited to the city of Paris and its suburbs, and therefore cannot be generalized to the French population.

This is the first study to collect data in a point‐of‐purchase setting in order to examine whether or not French consumers use nutrition labels.

The purpose of the Nutrition Education Students and Teachers (NEST) project was to develop a model of collaboration between University of Delaware dietetics students and elementary teachers to promote nutrition education in the classroom.

Junior and senior level students in a nutrition education course developed nutrition lessons with input from the school teachers on using age‐ and developmentally‐appropriate methods. Actual presentations to 55 elementary children were conducted in a health/science fair format. Written evaluations were completed by all involved in the project.

The university students developed competency in teaching skills, the elementary school pupils gained nutrition knowledge and skills, and the classroom teachers were provided with valuable curriculum materials for future use. The project was rated as successful by students, teachers, the school children, and nutrition instructors. This demonstrated an innovative method to teach nutrition education principles to university students with a threefold outcome.

Healthy eating behaviors need to be built in childhood, and schools are an ideal setting for nutrition education. However, resources are often limited. University professors should consider the use of live audiences for the development of teaching skills rather than the typical model of having students present to one another in their own classroom setting. Schools should consider the contribution that university students might make to their teaching programmes.

The paper describes an unusual, and cost‐effective, method of health education, of value to the teaching about dietetics, and to other areas of health education.

Increasing consumer interest in nutrition has led to an increased interest in nutrition labelling. Finds that over half (58 per cent) of the sample surveyed read nutrition labels. Nutrition labelling was found to have an impact on consumer purchase decisions. Of those consumers who read nutritional labels, 81 per cent use them in their evaluation of food products. Consumers have to deduce information from nutrition labels in their current format. Survey findings reinforce previous work carried out in this area, particularly in the context of consumer categorization of food products as “good” or “bad”. For example, consumer avoidance of “negative” nutrients is apparent throughout the survey. The majority of respondents, who read labels, indicated that they search out information on nutrients they wish to avoid. In general, since time allocated to shopping for food products is limited, the format of nutritional labelling needs further consideration and improvement. The concept of nutrition should be incorporated into food companies’ marketing strategy.

Research findings have suggested that today’s consumers view nutrition in a positive light. The findings of this survey support such evidence. The majority of consumers consider diet to be a very important component of their lifestyles and regard nutrition as a positive attribute of food products. A high level of awareness of nutrition labelling is evident among consumers, and 58 per cent of respondents use nutrition labels. However, consumers have to deduce information from nutrition labels in their current format. This proves rather difficult as knowledge of a balanced diet is quite low. Therefore, consumers find it difficult to implement current dietary advice through the use of nutrition labels, and only 17 per cent of the sample surveyed use labels for this purpose. Social networks and the “popular” media were found to be the most used sources of nutrition information, the medical profession was seen as a source of “cure” rather than prevention and a negligible percentage of the sample used official government information channels. Concludes that nutrition labels have a role to play; however, the food industry needs to respond to consumer needs and education/information provision needs to be improved.

This study examines how health-conscious consumers utilize nutrition facts panel labels when purchasing food products, focusing specifically on the dimension of ethical evaluation. It aims to understand how ethical considerations influence the decision-making process of consumers who prioritize health. By analyzing the impact of ethical evaluation on label usage, the study sheds light on the significance of ethics in consumer behavior in the context of purchasing packaged edible oil.

Empirical data were collected using an online survey and a non-ordered questionnaire. In total, 469 valid responses were obtained. The study used SPSS version 27.0 and SmartPLS version 3 for demographic analysis and structural equation modeling.

The findings suggest that three factors – perceived benefits, perceived threats, and nutrition self-efficacy, positively impact the use of NFP labels. However, perceived barriers negatively influence the use of NFP labels. In additionally, ethical evaluation mediates the usage of NFP labels.

In the health belief model, ethical evaluation functions as a mediator and has a greater influence on NFP label use. This study provides a framework for marketers to promote consumer health consciousness by encouraging them to incorporate NFP labels.

This study is one of the first attempts to demonstrate that ethical evaluation mediate health beliefs and the use of nutrition labels.

This paper aims to examine the effect of three types of health-related claims (health, nutrition and ingredient) and product healthiness on situational skepticism toward the claims that appear on the front-of-package of food products. The effect of situational skepticism on the purchase intention of the product is further examined.

Two experimental studies were conducted with a 3 (health-related claims: health claim vs nutrition claim vs ingredient claim) × 2 (product healthiness: healthy vs unhealthy) between-subjects factorial design. Study 1 investigates the effects within a single product category (Biscuits) and Study 2 the effects across product categories (Salad and Pizza).

The results demonstrate that situational skepticism is the highest for health claims, followed by nutrition claims and the least for ingredient claims. In addition, situational skepticism is higher for claims appearing on unhealthy products vis-à-vis healthy ones. Finally, situational skepticism mediates the relationship between claim type, product healthiness and product purchase intention.

This study contributes to the field of nutrition labeling by advancing research on information processing of nutrition labels through the lens of the persuasion knowledge model (Friestad and Wright, 1994). Specifically, this study contributes to a nuanced understanding of claim formats on how the language properties of the claim – its vagueness, specificity and verifiability – can affect consumer perception. This study finds that higher specificity, verifiability and lower vagueness of ingredient claims lead to lower skepticism and hence higher purchase intention.

Furthermore, this study incrementally contributes to the ongoing discussion about the claim–carrier combination by showing that health-related claims are better perceived on healthy compared to unhealthy products. Hence, managers should avoid health washing, as this can backfire and cause harm to the reputation of the firm.

From a public policy point of view, this study makes a case for strong monitoring and regulations of ingredient claims, as consumers believe these claims easily and hence can be misled by false ingredient claims made by unethical marketers.

The scope of research on skepticism has largely been limited to examining a general individual tendency of being suspicious (i.e. dispositional skepticism) in health-related claims as well as other areas of marketing. In this research, the authors extend the scope by examining how specific types of claims (health vs nutrition vs ingredient) and product healthiness jointly impact consumer skepticism, i.e. situational skepticism.