Abstract:
Objectives: The main aim of the study is to assess the Knowledge, awareness, and practice (KAP) regarding food label use among Bahraini mothers, and to determine if KAP regarding food label use is affected by Body Mass Index, health status and sociodemographic characteristics of the mothers.

Method: An online questionnaire constructed using Google Forms was distributed through different social media applications to be completed by Bahraini mothers aged 18-60 years old and above. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS, Chi-square, univariate, and correlation were used to assess the association between KAP regarding food label use and sociodemographic characteristics of Bahraini mothers.

Results: The results revealed a high level of knowledge, awareness, and practice toward food label use among Bahraini mothers. The result of Chi-square test shows Statistically significant relationships in the food label knowledge among Bahraini mothers according to different sociodemographic characteristics. This significant relationships among marital status (P<0.05), educational level (P<0.05), occupation (P<0.05), monthly income (P<0.05) and food purchasing responsibility (P<0.05) were observed.

A significant strong positive correlation (R= 0.072, P<0.05) was found between monthly income and food label awareness .Also, significant negative weak correlation between the ability to read food label and the age groups (R=-0.068, P<0.05). In addition, a significant association (univariate test) was found between the ability to read and understand food label and marital status (P<0.05). A moderate negative correlation was found between age group and the food label practice (R= -0.68, P<0.05). Moreover, the result of univariate test reported a statistically significant association between food label practice and occupation (P<0.05).

Conclusion: In conclusion, the high level of knowledge, awareness, and practice toward food label use among Bahraini mothers is associated with different sociodemographic characteristics such as marital status, educational level, occupation, monthly income, age.