"Healthy living"Nutrition labels support awareness and healthy food choices
ABU DHABI, 8 JULY / WAM / “Healthy Living”, a community movement led by the government in Abu Dhabi, continues to employ behavioral science in its initiatives, by developing its partnership with the “Behavioral Sciences Group” in the UAE, which contributes to achieving sustainable behavioral change and improving community health, based on the results of research and studies that included 11,735 residents in the country.
Developing the partnership comes within the framework of continuing to guide policy, enhance scientific research, and provide targeted interventions that create system-wide change by shaping environments, expanding access, and making health choices more accessible and natural in daily life.
The Behavioral Sciences Group contributed to supporting the development of the nutritional label “Nutri-Mark,” which is the nutritional classification mark on the front of the package launched by the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council in cooperation with the Abu Dhabi Center for Public Health, to classify packaged food products from grade (A) with the highest nutritional value to grade (E) with the lowest value, allowing consumers to compare products within one category and make more informed choices.
An evaluation of nutrition labels on the front of the packaging, using a virtual shopping platform that simulates the supermarket experience, in a study that included 2,733 residents in the UAE, demonstrated that product placement and label clarity affect purchasing behavior, especially for basic products such as bread, where healthier options were chosen at a higher rate.
Complementary research, which included 4,000 UAE residents, showed that nutrition labels enhance consumers’ understanding, enhance their orientation towards choosing healthier foods, create a positive impression of them, and reveal well-established misconceptions regarding nutritional balance, which confirms the importance of continuing health awareness and education efforts.
A joint study conducted by the Behavioral Sciences Group and Healthy Living, which included 5,002 residents of the UAE, revealed that calorie labels, when combined with additional nutritional information, contribute to reducing the calories chosen by an average of 114 calories per meal, while 94% of participants expressed their support for implementing calorie disclosure on menus.
His Excellency Dr. Ahmed Al Khazraji, Executive Director of Healthy Living in Abu Dhabi, stressed that real and sustainable behavioral change begins with understanding individual differences, the choices available to people, and the environments that shape those choices, pointing out that “Healthy Living” translates these analyzes into policies, systems, and environments that respond directly to the needs of society.
He added that cooperation with the Behavioral Sciences Group provided a deeper understanding of community needs and identified gaps in the services provided, which contributes to the design and implementation of targeted and effective interventions that achieve the greatest possible and most lasting impact for future generations.
Rasha Al-Attar, Director of the Behavioral Sciences Group in the Office of Development Affairs, said that “Healthy Living”, since its launch, has given great importance to behavioral science in policy-making, and has adopted an evidence-based approach in shaping its initiatives, stressing that this cooperation contributes to building local visions that support decision-making, achieving better health outcomes in Abu Dhabi, and strengthening the international evidence base for employing behavioral science in public policies.
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