Researchers: Sharon Furman-Assaf¹, Ronit Endevelt², Tatyana Kolobov^1,3

Background: In January 2020, the Ministry of Health initiated a reform for nutritional food products labeling. The attitude of health professionals towards public health reforms may have a far-reaching impact on public health as they are a source of authority and knowledge for the public.

Objectives: To assess the knowledge and attitudes of health professionals regarding food product labeling reform and its objectives, and to identify gaps in order to define focus areas for improvement of nutrition habits of the public.

Method: Descriptive cross-sectional study using an online survey among 456 participants (118 physicians, 207 nurses and 131 nutritionists).

Findings: Most respondents believe they should discuss issues related to healthy eating with their patients (91.8% of nurses, 94.9% of physicians and 100% of nutritionists), but only about half of them (47.5% of physicians and 57.0% of nurses) reported that they have sufficient knowledge in this field in general, and particularly on food labelling. No statistically significant differences were found between health professions regarding these three measures. Only some of the respondents felt that they can influence the nutrition habits of their patients. Most participants believe that additional regulatory measures should also be used to promote a healthy nutrition.

Conclusions: Health professionals believe that they should provide knowledge about healthy eating to their patients but some do not think they have sufficient knowledge in this area or the ability to influence patients' habits.

Recommendations: To provide health professionals with information, knowledge and tools on nutrition and food labelling, particularly regarding food products whose labelling are considered controversial.

Research end date: 02/2021