Assessing Use of Caloric Information on Restaurant Menus and Resulting Meal Selection in Saudi Arabia: Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior

ABSTRACT

Background: Beginning in 2019, the Saudi Government required restaurants to post caloric information on menus to facilitate informed meal choices by Saudi consumers.

Purpose: To assess the impact on consumer food choices, leveraging TPB, related to caloric information on menus among restaurants in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: A cross-sectional study among adult Saudi consumers was conducted. Theoretically based on TPB, data were gathered on the use of caloric information on menus in restaurants across Riyadh.

Results: Only 24.4% of participants utilized caloric information on menus to make a meal decision. Attitude (r = 0.65), and perceived behavioral control (r = 0.62) significantly correlated with intention. Multiple regression analysis showed that attitude (R² = 0.47, P = .05), and perceived behavioral control (R² = 0.11, P = .03) were significant predictors of using caloric information on menus for meal selection.

Discussion: Among Saudi participants, the use of caloric information on menus was low in their meal decision. Interestingly, attitude was found to be a significant predictor of utilizing caloric information in making a meal decision.

Translation to Health Education Practice: Consumer education should consider constructs of the TPB in intervention development and evaluation strategies to influence attitudes toward healthy eating behaviors and enhance the use of caloric information on restaurant menus in making informed meal decisions.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their gratitude to Cassandra Enzler for providing valuable edits to several drafts of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Human subjects approval statement

The current study was granted permission from the Institutional Review Board of Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University (IRB number: 19-0285).

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University through the Fast-track Research Funding Program.