Effectiveness of an educational and motivational program on food label comprehension skills and use among first-year pharmacy students at Khon Kaen University: a randomized controlled trial

Online education has become an increasingly important tool for promoting health behaviors, especially among adolescents who are at risk due to poor dietary choices. In Thailand, despite the presence of food labeling systems, many young consumers lack the knowledge and motivation to use them effectively. This study evaluated the effectiveness of an online educational and motivational program aimed at promoting behavioral skills in food label comprehension and food selection and the behavior of using food labels to select food products. A randomized controlled trial was conducted involving fifty first-year students aged 18-20 years old from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Khon Kaen University, Thailand. The participants were randomly allocated to experimental (n=25) or control (n=25) groups. The intervention comprised a 3-minute motivational video and an e-book focusing on knowledge specific to promoting food label reading behavior. Both groups initially exhibited fair levels of knowledge, high levels of motivation, fair skills, and a tendency to occasionally read food labels. After the intervention, the experimental group demonstrated significantly higher scores in knowledge (from 10 to 13 out of 16), motivation (shifted from high to very high, score 3.93 to 4.25 out of 5), and frequency of label reading (shifted from occasional to frequent, score 3.00 to 4.00 out of 5). However, no substantial change in food label comprehension or selection skills was observed, possibly due to the short intervention period. This study demonstrates the potential of online interventions in enhancing knowledge and motivation regarding nutritional label reading among university students. Future research should evaluate the effectiveness of such interventions across diverse student groups.