An Evaluation of an eHealth Tool Designed to Improve College Students’ Label-Reading Skills and Feelings of Empowerment to Choose Healthful Foods
ObjectiveCollege students are at risk for poor dietary choices. New skills can empower individuals to adopt healthful behaviors, yet eHealth tools designed to develop food-choice skills, such as label-reading skills, are uncommon. We investigated the effects of web-based label-reading training on co...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2018-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00359/full |
| _version_ | 1818310537575923712 |
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| author | Lisa M. Soederberg Miller Carolyn A. Sutter Machelle D. Wilson Jacqueline J. Bergman Laurel A. Beckett Tanja N. Gibson |
| author_facet | Lisa M. Soederberg Miller Carolyn A. Sutter Machelle D. Wilson Jacqueline J. Bergman Laurel A. Beckett Tanja N. Gibson |
| author_sort | Lisa M. Soederberg Miller |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ObjectiveCollege students are at risk for poor dietary choices. New skills can empower individuals to adopt healthful behaviors, yet eHealth tools designed to develop food-choice skills, such as label-reading skills, are uncommon. We investigated the effects of web-based label-reading training on college students’ perceptions of healthful food-choice empowerment.MethodsStudents completed label-reading training in which they practiced selecting the more healthful food using nutrition labels. We examined improvements in label-reading accuracy (correct healthfulness decisions) and perceptions of empowerment, using a 6-item scale. Repeated measures ANOVAs and paired-samples t-tests were used to examine changes in accuracy and empowerment across the training session.ResultsIn addition to increases in label-reading accuracy with training, we found increases in healthful food-choice empowerment scores. Specifically, the proportion of correct (i.e., more healthful) food choices increased across the three blocks of practice (p = 0.04) and food-choice empowerment scores were about 7.5% higher on average after training (p < 0.001).Conclusion and implicationsLabel-reading training was associated with increased feelings of empowerment associated with making healthful food choices. Skill focused eHealth tools may offer an important avenue for motivating behavior change through skill development. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T07:47:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-469547eb2c92464ba0335fe8ca9e941a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T07:47:38Z |
| publishDate | 2018-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-469547eb2c92464ba0335fe8ca9e941a2022-12-21T23:54:47ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652018-01-01510.3389/fpubh.2017.00359302678An Evaluation of an eHealth Tool Designed to Improve College Students’ Label-Reading Skills and Feelings of Empowerment to Choose Healthful FoodsLisa M. Soederberg Miller0Carolyn A. Sutter1Machelle D. Wilson2Jacqueline J. Bergman3Laurel A. Beckett4Tanja N. Gibson5Department of Human Ecology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United StatesFamily Resiliency Center, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United StatesDepartment of Public Health Sciences, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United StatesNutrition Department, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United StatesDepartment of Public Health Sciences, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United StatesDepartment of Human Ecology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United StatesObjectiveCollege students are at risk for poor dietary choices. New skills can empower individuals to adopt healthful behaviors, yet eHealth tools designed to develop food-choice skills, such as label-reading skills, are uncommon. We investigated the effects of web-based label-reading training on college students’ perceptions of healthful food-choice empowerment.MethodsStudents completed label-reading training in which they practiced selecting the more healthful food using nutrition labels. We examined improvements in label-reading accuracy (correct healthfulness decisions) and perceptions of empowerment, using a 6-item scale. Repeated measures ANOVAs and paired-samples t-tests were used to examine changes in accuracy and empowerment across the training session.ResultsIn addition to increases in label-reading accuracy with training, we found increases in healthful food-choice empowerment scores. Specifically, the proportion of correct (i.e., more healthful) food choices increased across the three blocks of practice (p = 0.04) and food-choice empowerment scores were about 7.5% higher on average after training (p < 0.001).Conclusion and implicationsLabel-reading training was associated with increased feelings of empowerment associated with making healthful food choices. Skill focused eHealth tools may offer an important avenue for motivating behavior change through skill development.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00359/fulleHealth toolsnutrition label readingempowermentskill developmentcollege students |
| spellingShingle | Lisa M. Soederberg Miller Carolyn A. Sutter Machelle D. Wilson Jacqueline J. Bergman Laurel A. Beckett Tanja N. Gibson An Evaluation of an eHealth Tool Designed to Improve College Students’ Label-Reading Skills and Feelings of Empowerment to Choose Healthful Foods Frontiers in Public Health eHealth tools nutrition label reading empowerment skill development college students |
| title | An Evaluation of an eHealth Tool Designed to Improve College Students’ Label-Reading Skills and Feelings of Empowerment to Choose Healthful Foods |
| title_full | An Evaluation of an eHealth Tool Designed to Improve College Students’ Label-Reading Skills and Feelings of Empowerment to Choose Healthful Foods |
| title_fullStr | An Evaluation of an eHealth Tool Designed to Improve College Students’ Label-Reading Skills and Feelings of Empowerment to Choose Healthful Foods |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Evaluation of an eHealth Tool Designed to Improve College Students’ Label-Reading Skills and Feelings of Empowerment to Choose Healthful Foods |
| title_short | An Evaluation of an eHealth Tool Designed to Improve College Students’ Label-Reading Skills and Feelings of Empowerment to Choose Healthful Foods |
| title_sort | evaluation of an ehealth tool designed to improve college students label reading skills and feelings of empowerment to choose healthful foods |
| topic | eHealth tools nutrition label reading empowerment skill development college students |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00359/full |
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