The impact of educational interventions on food label comprehension and food choices among adolescents: a scoping review.

backgroundOver the past few years, there has been a global shift in the food consumption pattern from traditional home cooked meals to ultra-processed packaged foods (UPFs). Adolescents are the most avid consumers of UPFs, with these foods comprising nearly 16.2% of total daily energy intake among Indian adolescents. Adolescence is a critical period for establishing autonomous dietary choices and habits, which often persist into adulthood and are strongly linked to long-term health outcomes, including obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Therefore, empowering adolescents to make informed food choices is critical for both immediate and future public health. Globally, the implementation of user-friendly food labelling has been proven to improve consumer understanding and is recognized as an effective public health strategy for promoting healthier food choices. This review aimed to assess the extent (volume of literature available) and range (the variety of research done) of evidence available on promoting food label literacy and/or healthy food choices among adolescents through education-based interventions.

methodsAn extensive literature search was conducted to select relevant research articles using a predetermined inclusion criterion. The literature search was done across different databases like PubMed, Scopus, Embase and Google scholar. The databases were searched for records published between the time frame 2000 to 2024. A total of 4,380 articles were manually screened, yielding 221 titles for further review. Of these, 169 abstracts and subsequently 44 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility using software. Ultimately, 11 full-text articles met the inclusion criteria and were incorporated into the scoping review.

resultsThe findings of the selected 11 studies were synthesized to highlight methods that promote food label reading and healthy food choices among adolescents. This review identified effective educational interventions for improving food label literacy and healthy food choices among adolescents commonly utilized behaviour change models, tailored content, and participatory approaches. Most interventions were school based, delivered through lectures or interactive activities, with some incorporating digital media and real food label analysis. Statistically significant improvements in food label knowledge were reported in the majority of studies, with positive impacts also observed on label use practices and food choices. These findings highlight the importance of context-specific, engaging, and theory-driven strategies in adolescent nutrition education.

conclusionsThe study concluded that such educational interventions have been primarily conducted in schools (mode), using educational materials and food models (as media) through lecture-based delivery (method). Invariably this approach enhances food label knowledge of adolescents, however, challenges remain in translating this knowledge into long term practices and healthy food choices.