title: College Students Must Overcome Barriers to Use Calorie Labels in Fast-Food Restaurants.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore predictors of intention of college students to use calorie labels on fast-food menus and differences in calories ordered after viewing calorie information.
  
  
  METHODS
  Quasi-experimental design. Participants selected a meal from a menu without calorie labels, selected a meal from the same menu with calorie labels, and completed a survey that assessed demographics, dietary habits, Theory of Planned Behavior constructs, and potential barriers to use of calorie labeling.
  
  
  METHODS
  A southern university.
  
  
  METHODS
  Undergraduate university students (n = 97).
  
  
  METHODS
  Predictors of intention to use calorie labels and whether calories selected from the nonlabeled menu differed from the labeled menu.
  
  
  METHODS
  Confirmatory factor analysis, exploratory factor analysis, multiple regression, and paired t tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants ordered significantly fewer calories (P = .02) when selecting from the labeled menu vs the menu without labels. Attitudes (P = .006), subjective norms (P < .001), and perceived behavioral control (P = .01) predicted intention to use calorie information but did not predict a difference in the calories ordered. Hunger (P = .03) and cost (P = .04) were barriers to using the calorie information.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  If students can overcome barriers, calorie labeling could provide information that college students need to select lower-calorie items at fast-food restaurants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Nutrition and Hospitality Management, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL. Electronic address: kstran@ches.ua.edu.
authors.forename: Kimberly A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Stran
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Nutrition and Hospitality Management, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL.
authors.forename: Linda L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Knol
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Science, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL.
authors.forename: Lori W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Nutrition and Hospitality Management, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL.
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Severt
authors.affiliation: Institute for Social Science Research, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL.
authors.forename: Debra M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: McCallum
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Nutrition and Hospitality Management, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL.
authors.forename: Jeannine C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Lawrence
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D054626:Consumer Health Information; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005515:Food Labeling / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: consumer health information; health policy; nutrition labeling; restaurants