Background: Obesity in the United States has reached epidemic proportions with more than one-third of adults classified as obese. In recent years, availability of nutrition information on menu boards in restaurants has gained popularity to help individuals become more aware of the calorie content of food and beverage items they consume. The purpose of this study was to determine if the food choices of college-aged Americans, specifically Southeast Missouri State University students, are impacted by menu labeling in restaurants.

Methods: Students from various classes at Southeast Missouri State were invited to participate in the study by verbal announcement. Each participant completed a survey created by the researcher. Epi Info version 3.5.4 (Centers for Disease Control) software was used for data entry and Stata ver. 12.1 for Windows for statistical analysis.

Results: Of the 131 participants, the majority (51.9%, n=68) purchase food from a restaurant or fast-food chain 1-2 times per week and most participants (55.7%, n=73) look for calorie information when ordering food at a restaurant or fast-food chain. The majority of participants respond that menu labeling has an influence on their decisions on what to order/ purchase when eating out (85.1%, n=74).

Conclusion: This study found that the majority of participants look for calorie information when ordering food at a restaurant; the majority of participants see the number of calories for items they are interested in ordering; and menu labeling has an influence on participant's decisions on what to order/purchase when eating out.