Perceptions of university students regarding calories, food healthiness, and the importance of calorie information in menu labelling

• Published in: Appetite Vol. 91; pp. 173 - 178
• Main Authors: Fernandes, Ana Carolina, de Oliveira, Renata Carvalho, Rodrigues, Vanessa Mello, Fiates, Giovanna Medeiros Rataichesck, da Costa Proença, Rossana Pacheco
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-08-2015
• Subjects: Adult; Brazil; Choice Behavior; College students; Diet - standards; Eating; Energy Intake; Feeding Behavior; Female; Focus group; Focus Groups; Food behaviour; Food Labeling; Food Preferences; Food service; Health; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Male; Nutrition information; Nutritive Value; Obesity - prevention & control; Perception; Qualitative research; Restaurants; Students; Universities; Young Adult; Qualitative research; Food service; College students; Food behaviour; Focus group; Nutrition information
• ISSN: 0195-6663; 1095-8304
• DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2015.04.042

•University students agreed that healthy food is not just about calories.•Food healthiness was associated with ingredients, nutrients, types of fat and food processing.•Students called for other information besides calories to be displayed on menus.•Menu labelling is more important in sit-down than in fast-food restaurants.
This study investigated Brazilian university students' perceptions of the concept of calories, how it relates to food healthiness, and the role of calorie information on menus in influencing food choices in different restaurant settings. Focus groups were conducted with 21 undergraduate students from various universities. Transcriptions were analysed for qualitative content, by coding and grouping words and phrases into similar themes. Two categories were obtained: Calorie concept and connection to healthiness; and Calorie information and food choices in restaurants. Calories were understood as energy units, and their excessive intake was associated with weight gain or fat gain. However, food healthiness was not associated to calorie content, but rather to food composition as a whole. Calorie information on restaurant menus was not considered enough to influence food choices, with preferences, dietary restrictions, food composition, and even restaurant type mentioned as equally or more important. Only a few participants mentioned using calorie information on menus to control food intake or body weight. Students' discussions were suggestive of an understanding of healthy eating as a more complex issue than calorie-counting. Discussions also suggested the need for more nutrition information, besides calorie content, to influence food choices in restaurants.