School of Medical, Indigenous and Health Sciences, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.
School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
J Hum Nutr Diet. 2025 Feb;38(1):e13379. doi: 10.1111/jhn.13379. Epub 2024 Oct 29.
Nut consumption in Australia is low, perhaps due to concerns with weight gain. However, nut consumption is not associated with increased weight, in part because of their lower metabolisable energy. Current energy labelling for nuts use Atwater factors, which over-represent the available energy from nuts. Therefore, this research aimed to examine stakeholders' knowledge, practices and perceptions of displaying true metabolisable energy on nutrition labels and its perceived impact on nut consumption.
An anonymous and voluntary survey was conducted online. Eligible respondents lived in Australia, were aged 18 years or older and had either no formal nutrition education (consumer group) or had formal training and were working as a stakeholder (stakeholder group; working in nutrition/dietetics, public health, food industry, food regulation or nut growing). Convenience sampling and snowballing were used to recruit respondents primarily via online advertisement.
Three hundred and forty-eight respondents (63.2% female; 71.0% aged 18-39 years; 69.0% Bachelor's degree or higher) were included in the analyses. A larger proportion of stakeholders agreed that nut consumption assists with weight management (67.9%) compared with consumers (47.6%). Theoretical food packaging showing both Atwater and metabolisable energy in the nutrition information panel was favoured among consumers and stakeholders, though 62.3% of consumers reported that a lower metabolisable energy of nuts would not impact their consumption.
This study indicates a need to further investigate the impact of metabolisable energy labelling on nut intake. Further education about the relationship between nuts and body weight is required for consumers and stakeholders.
澳大利亚的坚果摄入量较低，这可能是由于人们担心体重增加。然而，坚果的摄入量与体重增加无关，部分原因是它们的代谢能较低。目前坚果的能量标签使用阿特沃特系数，该系数高估了坚果的可利用能量。因此，本研究旨在调查利益相关者对在营养标签上显示真实代谢能的知识、实践和看法，以及其对坚果摄入量的潜在影响。
我们在线进行了一项匿名和自愿调查。合格的受访者居住在澳大利亚，年龄在 18 岁或以上，要么没有接受过正式的营养教育（消费者组），要么接受过正式培训并作为利益相关者（营养/饮食学、公共卫生、食品行业、食品法规或坚果种植工作的利益相关者组）工作。便利抽样和滚雪球抽样主要通过在线广告招募受访者。
348 名受访者（63.2%为女性；71.0%年龄在 18-39 岁；69.0%为学士学位或以上学历）被纳入分析。与消费者（47.6%）相比，利益相关者中更多的人认为坚果消费有助于体重管理（67.9%）。虽然 62.3%的消费者表示，坚果的代谢能较低不会影响他们的摄入量，但消费者和利益相关者都倾向于在营养信息面板中同时显示阿特沃特和代谢能的理论食品包装。
本研究表明，需要进一步研究代谢能标签对坚果摄入量的影响。需要对消费者和利益相关者进行有关坚果与体重之间关系的进一步教育。
