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In order to investigate the use and recognition of nutrition labelings of processed foods which adolescents frequently purchase, 277(boys 125, girls 152) middle school students and their parents were conveniently selected from the west Chonan City, and were surveyed by self-recording questionnaire on June, 2000. Nutrition labels were indicated only in 14.9% of 222 processed snack foods. At purchasing foods the students considered taste most importantly and in turn price, quantity, and nutrition. Of the subjects 79.4% of students and 89.2% of parents had experiences of reading nutrition labels, and the reasons were mainly to just know contained nutrients(76.8%, 72.1%, respectively) and for their health care(35.9%, 47.8%, respectively). The main reason not to confirm nutrition labels was that they were not interested in nutrition labels. But too small size and rudeness or hardness of understanding was also pointed out as a reason of not reading nutrition labels. The students ranked mineral, protein, and carbohydrate as the most important three nutrients at labelings, while the parents ranked protein, mineral, and calorie. Cholesterol, dietary fibers, and sodium were shown the lowest rank in both students and parents. Significant nutrients for specific processed foods did not well recognised in the students. Conclusively, nutrition labelings should be applied to all processed foods which students frequently buy, particularly in clear and large size. Also it is necessary to prepare education programs for both students and parents about accurate recognition of nutrition knowledge about processed foods and how to use nutrition labels.
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