Assessment of an e-training tool for college students to improve accuracy and reduce effort associated with reading nutrition labels.

Objective: Nutrition labels are often underutilized due to the time and effort required to read them. We investigated the impact of label-reading training on effort, as well as accuracy and motivation. Participants: Eighty college students (21 men and 59 women). Methods: The training consisted of a background tutorial on nutrition followed by three blocks of practice reading labels to decide which of two foods was the relatively better choice. Label-reading effort was assessed using an eye tracker and motivation was assessed using a 6-item scale of healthy food-choice empowerment. Results: Students showed increases in label-reading accuracy, decreases in label-reading effort, and increases in empowerment. Conclusions: The nutrition label e-training tool presented here, whether used alone or as part of other wellness and health programs, may be an effective way to boost students' label-reading skills and healthy food choices, before they settle into grocery shopping habits.