Nutrition Label Use and Intake of Added Sugars in US Children and Adults

Background/Objectives: High intake of added sugars is associated with adverse health outcomes. Recent studies have not evaluated added sugars intake by nutrition label use, which could provide insight into their effectiveness. We examined added sugars intake by frequency of nutrition label usage in a nationally representative sample of children and adults. Methods: We studied 9416 children and adults from the 2017–March 2020 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a nationally representative sample of the noninstitutionalized civilian US population. Frequency of nutrition label use (frequent vs. infrequent) was self-reported by adults and reported by adult proxies for children < 16 years. Added sugars intake was measured from two 24 h dietary recalls and analyzed as daily intake of added sugars in grams and percent of daily calories from added sugars. Results: Among adults in a cross-sectional study, added sugars intake was significantly associated with nutrition label use for percent of daily calories from added sugars (frequent use: 11.7 [95% CI: 11.2, 12.2]) vs. infrequent use: 17.5 [95% CI: 16.4, 18.5], respectively) and added sugars intake in grams (frequent use: 61.7 [95% CI: 59.2–64.1] vs. infrequent use: 104.4 [95% CI: 97.0–111.9). Significant differences were observed for children for both percent of daily calories from added sugars (frequent use: 13.9 [95% CI: 13.2, 14.6]; infrequent: 16.1 [95% CI: 14.7, 17.5]) and added sugars intake in grams (frequent: 64.5 [95% CI: 61.8, 67.2]; infrequent: 79.0 [95% CI: 71.9, 86.0]). Conclusions: Findings highlight the potential role of nutrition labels in reducing added sugars intake among children and adults.