title: Associations between self-perception of weight, food choice intentions, and consumer response to calorie information: a retrospective investigation of public health center clients in Los Angeles County before the implementation of menu-labeling regulation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although obesity continues to rise and remains a great public health concern in the U.S., a number of important levers such as self-perception of weight and calorie postings at point-of-purchase in restaurants are still not well-characterized in the literature, especially for low-income and minority groups in Los Angeles County (LAC). To study this gap, we examined the associations of self-perception of weight (as measured by body weight discrepancy) with food choice intentions and consumer response to calorie information among low-income adults residing in LAC during the pre-menu labeling regulation era.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the aforementioned associations utilizing data from the 2007-2008 Calorie and Nutrition Information Survey (CNIS). The CNIS was a local health department study of 639 low-income adults recruited from five large, multi-purpose public health centers in LAC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Survey participants who reported that their desired weight was less than their current weight (versus desired weight the same as current weight) had (i) higher odds of intending to select lower-calorie foods under the scenario that calorie information was available at point-of-purchase (aOR = 2.0; 95 % CI: 1.0-3.9); and (ii) had higher odds of reporting that it is "very important" to have these calorie postings on food items in grocery stores (aOR = 3.1; 95 % CI: 0.90-10.7) and in fast-food restaurants (aOR = 3.4; 95 % CI: 1.0-11.4).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Self-perception of weight was found to be associated with the intention to select lower-calorie foods under the scenario that calorie information was available at point-of-purchase. Future public health efforts to support menu labeling implementation should consider these and other findings to inform consumer education and communications strategies that can be tailored to assist restaurant patrons with this forthcoming federal law.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, 650 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, 90095-1772, CA, USA. niaroch@ucla.edu.|UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, Los Angeles, CA, USA. niaroch@ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Roch A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Nianogo
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, 650 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, 90095-1772, CA, USA.|Division of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA.|Department of Family Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, 650 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, 90095-1772, CA, USA.|Office of Health Assessment and Epidemiology, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Lisa V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, 650 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, 90095-1772, CA, USA.|UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, Los Angeles, CA, USA.|California Center for Population Research, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Onyebuchi A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Arah
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001828:Body Image; D001835:Body Weight; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D005515:Food Labeling / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005518:Food Preferences; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D015141:Los Angeles; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D011203:Poverty; D011634:Public Health; D012147:Restaurants / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult