Knowledge and Perception of Students on Caloric Recommendation and Calorie Posting in Fast Food Restaurants

Abstract

Obesity is a global problem with many factors, like reckless eating, especially in highly accessible fast-food meals. Consumers are unaware of the high-calorie meals, and caloric-menu posting has received attention from many countries. However, in the Philippines, little research was dedicated to assessing the consumers' knowledge of calories and perception of caloric posted on the menu. An online survey used 164 random participants from 4 colleges from different departments of different year levels. Mann-Whitney-U and Kruskal-Wallis-H test was used to assess significance. Most students thought that inactive adults have a lower caloric-recommended-energy requirement. Most students reported they are not knowledgeable enough about daily energy requirements to make a lower caloric meal choice, which is probably why most of them responded that the calorie count of foods at the point of purchase in fast food would be beneficial. More than half of the respondents will likely dine in a fast food with caloric posting on menus and will eat slightly lower caloric meal food. Most respondents consider the food price and do not focus more on the caloric content. Two-thirds of students Agree or Strongly-agree on this kind of legislation. Twenty-five percent answered that it is entirely the government's responsibility to spearhead this legislation campaign. Mandating a caloric menu in fast food is a robust policy tool promoting a healthy lifestyle. Improving the caloric information knowledge helps fast-food consumers choose lower-caloric meals. Adopting this type of low-cost policy should encourage policymakers to adopt this law.