One Third of Men Don’t Ever Read Nutrition Labels

Learning to read nutrition labels isn’t necessarily easy. However, even without having a thorough understanding of what they mean, it’s still important to take up the practice. However, according to a recent study, men simply aren’t picking up the habit at the same rate as women.

A new National University of Ireland study showed that 95 percent of women regularly read nutrition labels on their food. This doesn’t mean that they do it with every food item they buy or consume, but they do it sometimes. On the other hand, only 65 percent of men are doing the same thing.

One in 3 Men Don’t Read Nutrition Labels

According to the experts behind the study, there are specific reasons men are not willing to read nutrition labels. The top factor among them is the fact that the information is tough to understand.

However, the researchers also cautioned that the unwillingness of men to find out how to read nutrition labels properly is contributing to obesity risk. The labels are there in order to help people to make informed decisions regarding the foods they eat. However, without learning about that tool and using it properly, they remain ignorant about what their food contains and how it can affect them.

Trends Among People Who Don’t Read Nutrition Labels

Research has shown that of every ten people who already have life-threatening heart disease, 4 don’t read nutrition labels. Moreover, people with high cholesterol will also frequently skip that helpful step.

Furthermore, studies indicate that over 80 percent of people overall struggle to fully understand what is meant when they read nutrition labels. In some cases, they were confused to such a degree that they did not know if a food contained a large or small amount of fat or sugar.

Informed Changes

One of the most important things a person can do in order to make healthy changes to their lifestyle is to educate themselves. Being able to read nutrition labels is at the very basic level of understanding foods and whether or not they are appropriate for your diet. Scientists feel that food labeling still has a long way to go before it can be effectively used to improve public health as a whole.

At the moment, the labels are clearly assuming that consumers know more about certain nutrition factors than they currently do. This makes it difficult for them to apply the information they see on their food packages.