Abstract
The problem on obesity has big a growing issue for many people worldwide. In lieu with the predicament and the accompanying illness that comes with obesity, the different government worldwide as well as the different health institutions are finding ways to combat the problem. One of the ways of addressing the issue was standardizing food label to consist of information that would inform people of the contents of the food they eat. However, this solution is not widely accepted. Critics believe that knowledge on how to read and understand food label cannot do anything to solve obesity. In a study conducted by the researcher of this paper, 128 respondents were surveyed to generate sufficient evidence that would correlate the variables. After extensive study, it came to a conclusion that food label revealed no significant correlation with obesity. In fact, Pearson r = 0 emphasizing no association between the variables. This only goes to show that the proposal to develop a standardized food label system as a solution to the problem of obesity would only be a waste of time, money and effort because it will have no significant change in the status of obesity. There is no correlation that would establish that knowledge on reading food labels would actually deter the people from overconsumption as well as false patronage of food that are not healthy for the individual.
Keywords: obesity, food label, Multiple Traffic Light Label System,
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity is a common, serious and costly problem that besets not only of the US but also the world. In the US alone approximately 1/3 of the total adult population are suffering from obesity . This stands at around 78.6 million, assuming 34.9% of the adult population in the country . In 2008, the US government has spent a total of $147 billion to appropriate for the annual medical cost of people diagnosed with obesity . This cost is documented to be associated with obesity-related problems like certain types of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and Type 2 Diabetes, which had been identified as the leading causes of preventable death . Given the alarming statistics and the risks associated with obesity, the government along with several other health-related institutions had been finding ways to combat obesity from further affecting a large segment of the population. Among the ways that the government found helpful is by further improving the food labels typically found in most consumables found in the market today.
Research Problem
The US is currently facing one of the biggest weight-related problem in healthcare. With 1/3 of its adult population suffering from obesity, there is a lot of significance that this could affect the nation’s productivity. In lieu with this, the government proposed the improvement and strict implementation of following a standard for food labeling. This paper would like to know whether food labels are effective in trying to combat the weight problem of the US. This paper would like to address the question, how effective is improving and enforcing a strict standard on food label at addressing the issue of obesity? Many critics believe that this program is a dead-end project and believed that the government’s program of improving the standards of food labels is a waste of time and money considering that not everyone is trained at reading food labels, let alone interested in what these labels had to say. Therefore, many believe that the government is wasting a large quantifiable amount of money over a program that would have, if any, very minimal effect on the problem of obesity.
Rationale of the Study
Considering that obesity significantly affects a large portion of the population and has been costing the government enormous amount of money, it is deemed crucial to develop a program that is not only effective but also cost-efficient. Cost-efficiency does not mean that the program necessarily has to be cheap. However, it only propose that the program is worth spending and investing a large amount of money over to ensure that the costs is worth every single penny. Nevertheless, the government’s proposal to improve and strictly enforce food labels that would standardized the current format is deemed ineffective and inefficient as far as cost is concerned. This study is being pursued to establish the merits of the proposal and find means for the program to actually work if insisted by the people in the government. It is imperative that everyone should start considering every proposal that is laid in the table to determine its feasibility because the consequences and the threat of obesity is significantly costing not only the government but it is also compromising the health and wellness of the country having to succumbed to the implications of obesity.
Methodology
There are many ways to address the issue of obesity. One of which is to conduct extensive research that would establish a pattern and document the paths that the government, as well as other health-related institutions have taken to address the issue. Another way is to propose programs that would bring down the statistics to a more manageable level. However, such proposals cannot be taken and implemented without due consideration of its cost and effectiveness. The government cannot afford to spend more on a program that has no significant impact to addressing the issue. More so, the impact of obesity has serious implications not only to the government, the economy and the society, but more on the individuals who are diagnosed with the specific health condition.
In this regard, this paper is proposing to conduct a triangulate that would extensive cover all areas that is being considered about this problem on obesity. A triangulation is deemed appropriate for this paper as it attempts to examine the proposed program of the government that is perceived to address the issue of obesity. This research methodology allows for the use of more than one method in the attempt to arrive at a more reliable and more valid conclusion . Significantly, triangulation as a research methodology has been considered as a powerful technique that allows for the validation of data using the method of cross verification of two or more sources.
For this study, this paper has combined both qualitative and quantitative techniques. This decision is perceived to merit justification of the proposal to improved and strictly enforce a standardized system of food labels as it is believed to address the issue on obesity. For the qualitative aspect of this study, this paper took into consideration the proposal on standardizing the food label system and enforcing the strict compliance of companies and food manufacturers of the new system. This aspect also included an extensive review of the proposed program plan, including the cost of the proposed program, the mechanism involved, and the implementing and monitoring process.
In addition, as part of the qualitative aspect of this triangulation this paper would also conduct an extensive literature review on the subject of food labelling and obesity. To ensure the relevance of the resources used in this study, materials written and publish within the last ten years beginning from 2005 to 2014. Literature search included extensive library research and online research using the following keywords for the literature review—food labelling, obesity and weight lost.
For the quantitative aspect of this study, this paper utilized a survey which only established the correlation between knowledge of reading food labels with the consumer’s body weight. The correlational study was aimed at proving the hypothesis that knowledge of reading food labels would not a deterrent to obesity. For this particular aspect of the study, 123 shoppers from a local grocery were randomly selected and interviewed. They were asked whether they know how to read food labels and if they do, how strict are they at counting the calories and the cholesterols in they consume on a daily serving. After this, each respondent is asked to take a weigh to determine their weight. It is assumed that people who have knowledge about reading food labels and strictly watching the food they eat should be within the ideal weight. During the interview, only 128 had successfully completed the procedure. The results of the study was associated to establish whether knowledge of food label is significantly correlated to achieving an ideal body weight.
Hypothesis
The null hypothesis for this study is that there is no significant association in the knowledge of reading food label to keeping an ideal body mass or weight. Therefore, it is irrelevant for the government to pursue the program that would implement the standardization of food label and enforcing strict compliance for the same because it will not help in addressing the issue of obesity.
Results
Qualitative Perspective
Over the years there had been numerous studies that explore the different roles, contributions and limitations of food labels. Studies have explored the different dimensions that sought the use of food labels—from marketing, to advertising and to the practical health application. In 2010 the government stepped in after the problem on child obesity has escalated at an alarming level. The White House Childhood Obesity Task Force was created to address the issue on child obesity and one of the intervention that they have was in reference to improving the front-of-package food labelling . The task force was, in fact, adamant and serious at calling for a conscious effort that aims to empower the community to take active measures to combat the growing number of youth diagnosed with obesity. Among the initiatives forwarded by the task force was to empower parents and care providers to be more discerning and vigilant of what they feed the children. This includes learning how to read food labels for the purpose of having to use it in planning for the child’s diet. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) helped conceptualized the new process of reinventing the FOD to make it more helpful and appealing by adding the use of symbols into the presentation which is perceived to be more useful (Hawley, Roberto and Bragg 430). Among the symbols that were added were in reference to the symbols representing calories, saturated fat, sodium and sugars per serving as well as per cent daily value. The FDA utilized a new system which they had called the Multiple Traffic Light Label System. Over the course of the system, the FDA has been able to document remarkable progress. In fact in a survey, it was said to offer helpful information that assisted many consumers in making decisions about the food they were buying. Significantly, the Multiple Traffic Light Label System was also an added organizational strategy on the shelving mechanism for the most supermarkets to arrange their products in such a way that it will be identified as one being rich with calories, with saturated fat and alike. Initially the technique allowed consumers to even unconsciously decide which products to buy depending on the specific needs of the family.
In 2010, however, this was thought to be just a public health propaganda which was only created to bring the people into a hype . The FOD was viewed instead as a food marketing strategy. Many claimed that the US Food and Drug Administration were one with many food manufacturers in developing a system that would encourage buyers to prefer a certain kind of food. There were also claims that the system was not actually truthful and were simply marked to market in a certain way. In addition, while it seemed to help in the marketing campaign, it doesn’t seem to address the issue of why the system has been developed in the first place—address the problem on obesity.
This has not been the first time that the food label had been used to address the issue on obesity and other health problems. In fact, in 1992 there was also the proposition to study the use of food labels and how it can be utilized to influence consumers in their purchasing decisions. Caswell and Padberg opened their research with the intense discussion of what warrants the great overhaul of the food label presentation . They theorized that more than anything, the purpose of food label was not exactly to help make health conscious individuals or a more health-sensitive society. Instead, their theory supports that the key role that food labels are designed for is for marketing system. The role of which is affected by the product design, advertising, consumer confidence in food quality and consumer education in diet and health (Caswell and Padberg Abstract).
Many food nutritionists and experts settled that the biggest junk food consumers are children and youth. Nevertheless, this is quite alarming considering that the children and the youth are not exactly the one making the grocery. This is the goal why majority of the food advertisers are directing their ads and campaigns on children and creating commercials and advertisements that would lure them to pressure their parents to purchase these products. A resource speaker in a documentary entitled Weight of the Nation delivered a very powerful and compelling description of advertising associated to the process of marketing food products directed at luring children that they need it. The speaker described them as “powerful, predatory and pernicious.”
When the House of Congress tried to influence the food advertisers, especially those manufacturers who makes junk food to classify and enumerate the nutritional content and serving of their products, a number of these companies began endorsing that their product contains more of certain vitamins or nutrients like having the most Vitamin D, or being the one that is rich fiber, and all other kind of nutritional facts that care providers and parents would almost instantly picked out. It is the also a similar story when the House of Congress ordered the carbonated drinks and soda manufacturers to recall and pull out all of their products in the different school cafeterias in the different states. Naturally, these companies abided by the order and did as they were told without complaining. However, these companies had managed to substitute the vending machines that offers carbonated drinks and soda with fruit juices. However, not many actually knows that these fruit juices actually contains more sugar. The truth of is that the replacements which was designed as a substitute, with the campaigns that the substitute are more healthy being considered a “fruit”. They tried to lure parents and care providers that they are made in placed of the old products that are classified as junked and only contribute to child obesity. The manufacturers and advertisers simply tried to mislead parents and the House of Congress into believing that they have conformed when they have actually done very little to address the issue.
Quantitative Perspective
As indicated in the quantitative analysis of the bivariate data, it reveals that a scatter plot of food label literate and food label illiterate as indicated in Figure 1 (please refer to the Appendix A). Considering that the data did not form a linear relationship, thus, it failed to establish any kind of relationship between food label literacy and BMI. This indicates that there is no relationship or association that can be established between the variables. Similarly Pearson r = 0. This strongly emphasized base on the computation XY has establish no significant relationship or no significant association.
Unlike in a linear relationship, a scatter plot cannot establish a consistent pattern. In this study it can then be applied that while it is assumed that the knowledge on food labels will help address the problem on obesity, there seems to show no correlation to indicate such behavior. Instead, it revealed that while some participants were fully knowledgeable and were considered food label literate, it did not significantly aid the participants at maintaining an ideal or normal body mass index (BMI). In fact, if one would refer to Table 1, under the obese classification, it shows that while the 42 of the respondents who were classified obese were knowledgeable at reading, understanding and interpreting food labels. This would imply that if the government would pursue and invest money at capitalizing on food label standardization and strict implementation, the consumers would still not be able to address the issue on obesity.
Discussion
Considering the result of the quantitative analysis it reports that sufficient knowledge and understanding of the food label would not constitute to a normal body mass index (BMI). The survey revealed that while consumers may have a full understanding of the information presented on the food labels they see these merely as figures and list of words and numbers meshed together but have no significant bearing or importance to actually make use of the information provided to them. In addition, during the short interview after the survey majority if the respondents verbalized that the details presented on food label are not actually real. They believe that it is simply a marketing strategy that manufacturers and producers use to lure health enthusiasts or average consumers to think that they are actually eating something healthy. Quite disappointingly, 31 of the 42 obese respondents who were food label literate that were interviewed said that they are conscious about reading the food labels and counting the calories and saturated fat contents of the food they buy but somehow they keep getting bigger. They said they now think that the information on food label are actually wrong or they are missing something from the equation.
Instead of focusing on an already tried but insignificantly useful process, the government and health institutions should capitalize on awareness and education campaign. People need to see the significance of living a healthy lifestyle and being in a better shape because that has more impact to an individual. It is also more effective in letting people see what obesity does because that would impact the people greatly seeing how it debilitates and limit the individual from being active. In retrospect, from the insights provided by the 31 obese respondents who said that it was either they were being lied to by the food labels or something is missing, it can be concluded that the missing piece of the puzzle is health education. Again, any piece of information is worthless unless the people who will hear it sees the relevance to it to act on the insights.
Many food nutritionists and experts settled that the biggest junk food consumers are children and youth. Nevertheless, this is quite alarming considering that the children and the youth are not exactly the one making the grocery. This is the goal why majority of the food advertisers are directing their ads and campaigns on children and creating commercials and advertisements that would lure them to pressure their parents to purchase these products. A resource speaker in a documentary entitled Weight of the Nation delivered a very powerful and compelling description of advertising associated to the process of marketing food products directed at luring children that they need it. The speaker described them as “powerful, predatory and pernicious.”
Conclusion
Overall, given the historical transition of food labels and the impact that the previous campaign had it seemed that there is nothing that is significantly different with the past with the new proposal being endorsed by the Congress. In addition, the result of the survey initiated for this study showed that being fully knowledgeable of the purpose and how food label information are used would not significantly help in offering a solution to the problem of obesity. The proponents and advocates of this campaign should strongly reconsider and learn from how it has failed in the past. Knowledge of how to read the food labels does not constitute to people having to really abide of follow it. More so, use it religiously.
Works Cited
Altman, Douglas and Martin Bland. "Parametric v non-parametric methods for data analysis." The British Medical Journal (2009): 338.
Caswell, Julie and Daniel Padberg. "Toward a More Comprehensive Theory of Food Labels." American Journal of Agricultural Economics (1992): 460-468. Print.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Adult Obesity Facts. 9 September 2014. Web. 29 March 2015.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Healthy Weight - it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle! 23 February 2015. Web. 31 March 2015.
Creswell, John. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. New York: SAGE Publications, Inc, 2008. Print.
Finkelstein, Eric, et al. "AnnualMedical Spending Attributable To Obesity: Payer-And Service-Specific Estimates." Health Affairs (2009): w822-w831. Print.
Hawley, Kristy, et al. "The science on front-of-package food labels." Public Health Nutrition (2012): 430–439. Print.
Nestle, Marion and David Ludwig. "Front-of-Package Food Labels Public Health or Propaganda?" Journal of the American Medical Association (2010 ): 771-772. Print.
Ogden, Cynthia, et al. "Prevalence of Childhood and Adult Obesity in the United States, 2011-2012 ." The Journal of American Medical Association (2014): n.p. Web.
Spalsbury, Marcy. "Suggested Approaches to Improving Nutrition Status of College Students: A Literature Review." 26 April 2013. Grand Valley State University Website. Web. 26 December 2014.
Appendix A
and their knowledge of food label
**Table 1 reveals that there is not specific pattern that would associate the knowledge of food label with keeping an ideal weight. In fact, the data shows that the results actually vary. There are instances that the abnormal weight is seen even with participants who were food label literate. In the same way, there were those who were considered food label illiterate who were able to keep a good normal weight which was, in fact, significantly higher for those who were food label literate. This data was supported in Table 2 which was used to compute for the association and relationship of the 2 variables.
For the purpose of analysis and critical presentation, the interpretation of body weight status as per the individual’s body mass index is provided for in this study.
Figure 1: Scatter Plot of Food Label Literate’s BMI and Food Label Illiterate’s BMI
In Figure 1, it shows the graphical distribution of the participants’ body mass index (BMI) record according to their understanding of the food label. The data were plotted to show how it was distributed which helps in establishing whether there is an association between the variables used for this survey. Accordingly, it revealed that there is no pattern to document such phenomenon but rather there is the reason to accept the null hypothesis which establish that there is no association between the variables. Only justifying that the proposal to standardize the food label system to address the problem on obesity is in fact, not useful and will show no significant impact.
Table 4: Aggregate distribution of respond’s literary on food label and their respective BMI
