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Teens use food nutrition labels uniquely

BOSTON, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts researcher says nutrition labels on food may not be having a helpful effect on teens who read those labels.

Terry Huang of Tufts University, in a study recently published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, found that nearly 80 percent of the adolescents reported sometimes or always reading nutrition labels.

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However, Huang found boys reading nutrition labels was associated with a higher fat intake, while in girls, fat intake did not differ by reading nutrition labels.

The study of more than 300 boys and girls ages 10 to 19, primarily Caucasian and African-American, found that more than 56 percent reported reading nutrition labels some of the time. Nearly 22 percent reported always reading nutrition labels and nearly 22 percent reported never reading them. No differences in nutrition label use were found across ethnicities, but African-Americans had more calories from fat than Caucasians. Boys who always read nutrition labels consumed the greatest number of calories from fat.

Huang says it is possible boys might read simply to assess total calories or proteins from a desire to "bulk up"; girls may focus on total calories.

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