The Effects of Nutritional Knowledge and Food Labels on Eating Behavior in the Context of Negative Affect

Abstract

Purpose: Obesity is a growing issue worldwide, putting individuals at risk for various diseases including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and stroke. The causes of obesity are multifaceted, however the present study focused on increased eating in the context of negative affect, termed emotional eating. Emotional eating occurs in an attempt to provide relief from negative emotions. It is an emotion-focused coping technique that is associated with increased consumption of food, specifically food high in calories and fat (Oliver & Wardle, 1999). The purpose of this study was to identify potential factors that could decrease the relationship between negative affect and increased food consumption. Nutritional knowledge and food labels have been associated with healthier diets including increased consumption of fruits and vegetables, lower overall energy intake, and lower intake of fat (Graham & Laska, 2012; Spronk, 2014). Therefore, these factors were considered as potential mechanisms to moderate the relationship between negative affect and increased food consumption. Method: The data were collected from 61 undergraduate students from the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Participants completed various assessments that measured affect (PANAS; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988), perceived stress, daily hassles (Daily Hassles short version; Totenhagen, Curran, Serido, & Butler, 2013), general eating behavior (TFEQ-r18; Karlsson, Persson, Sjöström, & Sullivan, 2000) and nutritional knowledge (GNKQ; Paramenter & Wardle 1999). Participants were randomly assigned to a food label group or non-food label group. Negative affect was induced by showing a short sad film clip. Last, participants completed a faux taste-task where the amount and type of food consumed was measured. Results: Results indicated support for the emotional eating model, where negative affect was positively related to calorie consumption. However, there were no significant findings to indicate nutritional knowledge as moderator for negative affect and food consumption. Further, there were no significant findings to indicate nutrition labeling as a moderator for negative affect and food consumption. Last, there were no significant results indicating that nutritional knowledge and nutritional labeling produced an interactive effect to impact calories consumed. Conclusions: Although most study hypotheses were not supported, there were indications of trending results in the expected direction. Limits on sample size greatly reduced the power of this study. It would be beneficial to conduct similar studies that could potentially aid in the development of educational programs aimed at increasing nutritional knowledge and nutrition label use.