Barriers & Facilitators to Overcoming Obesity in Canada and the Role of Fat-related Nutrient Content Claims

Abstract

Our overall objective was to explore some individual and environmental determinants of eating habits with a main focus on nutrition labels and their usefulness for choosing foods for weight management. We first broadly examined these determinants using participants of the AFMNet Canadian Consumer Monitor (CCM), and found a number of attitudinal and perceived environmental barriers to healthy eating. In an experimental study with CCM respondents, we found that reduced fat claims may help consumers make better choices for weight management if calorie content on the Nutrition Facts Table is also considered. However, in our examination of foods with fat claims in the Canadian marketplace, we found that most products with fat claims are not significantly lower in calories than comparable foods without such claims. We conclude that fat claims could be useful in assisting consumers with food choices for weight management, if the foods were also reduced in calories.