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A new study by an international team of scientists headed from the University of Santiago de Compostela claims that people who read labels on food products stay thinner. The finding is especially applicable on women.  

The study claims that female consumers who consult food labels weigh nearly 4 kilograms (9 lbs) less. The data used for the study has been collected from the USA.

The study, by the Universities of Tennessee, Arkansas (USA), the Norwegian Institute for Agricultural Finance Research, and the University of Santiago de Compostela, aimed at studying the relationship between reading food labels and obesity.

It was found that the BMI of those who read that label while food shopping were 1.49 points lower than those who did not. This translates as a reduction of 3.91 kg for an American woman measuring 1.62 cm and weighing 74 kg, Medical Xpress reported.

The data, from the annual National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), collected about 25,640 observations on health and eating and shopping habits. The participants of the study were asked questions pertaining to their habits of reading the nutritional information in supermarkets.

"First we analysed which was the profile of those who read the nutritional label when purchasing foods, and then we moved on to the relationship with their weight," as explained to SINC by María Loureiro, lead author of the study published in the 'Agricultural Economics' journal.

"Obesity is one of the most serious health problems in modern day USA," outlines the researcher.

The study findings revealed very significant differences between those who read the labels, and those who did not.

One of the revelations was that those who smoke, seldom pay attention to such kinds of information while food shopping.  

"Their lifestyle involves less healthy habits and as a consequence, it could be the case that they are not so worried about the nutritional content of the food they eat, according to our results," the researchers said.

Also, it was found that it is the city-dwelling population, and those who are highly educated, who pay attention to nutritional values the most.

Gender wise, it seems, 74% of women, and 58% of men read the information on the labels.

"In general, the associated impact is higher amongst women than men," adds the researcher.

This effect was however, more pronounced in women than men. While women who read the nutritional information were found to have 1.48 points lower BMI than, in men, this difference stood at just 0.12 points.

"We know that this information can be used as a mechanism to prevent obesity. We have seen that those who read food labels are those who live in urban areas, those with high school and high education. As we would hope therefore, campaigns and public policy can be designed to promote the use of nutritional labelling on menus at restaurants and other public establishments for the benefit of those who usually eat out," concludes Loureiro.