Effect of menu labeling on the food choices of selected students in a public secondary school in Bay, Laguna [Philippines]

Menu Labeling, such as providing the calorie content of the menus in food establishments is one of the strategies that may help people adopt healthier food choices and dietary lifestyle in general. This study aimed to determine if posting the calorie contents of dishes will affect the food calories of selected students. Surveys were conducted before and after menu labeling from 192 students in a public secondary school in Bay, Laguna. Descriptive statistics, frequency distribution, Spearman Rho correlation, Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskall-Wallis test were used to analyse the data. Results showed that caloric labeling, had an effect on the food choices of the selected students. Ninety-eight percent (188) noticed the labels while eighty-five percent preferred to see the calorie labels. However, only 35% (67) used it to choose the types of dish to order. Fifty-five percent of this opted for lower calorie dishes. Lower calorie options were made by females while higher calorie options were made by males. Age had weak effect on the students' food choices after menu labeling, although, longer exposure is needed to explore stronger correlations. However, when age was cross-tabulated with BMI classification, result of the analysis showed that after menu labeling, those who are normal, overweight, and obese had increased consumption of beef dishes as they get older. Frequency of consumption of lower calorie dishes such as vegetables and fish increased after labeling, while consumption of pork dishes, which contain high calorie decreased. Taste remained as the top priority in choosing meals. Although calorie content ranked fifth, results showed a shift towards giving it more importance. After labeling, age, sex, BMI classification, presence of family disease and meal skipping affect the frequency of consuming different types of dishes.