Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identity how people with diabetes use food labels to manage their intake of specific nutrients, which information is used on the Nutrition Facts label, and the relationship between food label use and nutrition knowledge.
Methods: A total of 190 individuals participated in this study. Data were collected at six different locations in New Jersey using a four-page questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were employed to assess demographic and clinical characteristics of the participants; chi-square was used to test significance of nominal and ordinal data.
Results: People with diabetes read food label information more often than general consumers; checking sugar content ranked highest. Only 59% of label users referred to the total carbohydrate listings. The level of nutrition knowledge for the majority of participants was "fair" or less, with the remaining scoring "good" and above. The use of nutrition labeling has a limited effect on nutrition knowledge gain.
Conclusions: Individuals who received most of their information from healthcare providers had a "good" or better nutrition knowledge score. An education program is needed that teaches people how to apply information from the Nutrition Facts label to make healthy food choices.