Investigating the obesogenic effects of marketing snacks with toys: an experimental study in Latin America

Abstract

BackgroundThe inclusion of toys in food packages is a common marketing practice, and it is suspected of promoting obesogenic behaviours. This study aimed to determine whether toys packaged with food are indeed increasing the amount of food eaten by children, and if this effect is enhanced by contemporary exposure to TV and/or advertising.MethodsA total of 600 children (balanced according to gender and age groups, 3–6 and 7–10 years old) were randomized in three school facilities in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico and exposed to food (snacks) alone or food associated with toys in an experimental setting. All of the children received the same meal at lunchtime. The products were packages in which chocolate was associated with toys in an egg-shaped container partially filled by chocolate. The children were asked to eat ad libitum for 20 minutes during the afternoon break. In addition, the children were randomized into two groups and either shown or not shown a movie cartoon, with three different levels of exposure to commercials in the TV viewing condition (1, 2 or 3 advertisements).ResultsNo significant differences emerged between the “toys” and “no toys” groups even after taking into account exposure to TV, commercials and other confounding factors.ConclusionsThe inclusion of toys in food packages was not shown per se to lead to an increase in the caloric intake of children.

The Impact of Marketing and Advertising on Food Behaviours: Evaluating the Evidence for a Causal Relationship

“…A Korean cross-sectional study, (n=2419, 11-13 years) found that all associations between food advertising and reported intake disappeared after adjusting for the amount of television watched [83]. Two identical experimental studies in Latin America (n=600, 3-10 years) [84] and India (n=1680, 3-11 years) [85], found no significant association between TV food advertising exposure and children's subsequent snack food consumption. In these studies, children were exposed to varying amounts of food adverts embedded within a cartoon program, presumably to assess if snack intake increased with increasing exposures.…”

Influência Da Mídia Nos Hábitos Alimentares De Crianças: Uma Revisão Da Literatura

“…Dessa forma percebe-se que recursos afetivos e emocionais são estratégias altamente utilizadas para sensibilizar o público, que pode ser tanto de crianças como também dos próprios pais. 26,29,30 Em estudo realizado com 14 cuidadores das crianças (pai, mãe ou avó) no nordeste brasileiro sobre a rotina familiar se constatou que houve mudança de rotina alimentar para se adequar aos horários dos programas exibidos na televisão. Verificou-se que ocorreram mudanças nas decisões de compra da família por influência das crianças.…”

“…Dessa forma acabam desenvolvendo sentimentos contraditórios, pois eles têm a consciência do que estão fazendo errado, mas não sabem como mudar sem que eles próprios mudem seu hábito e deem exemplo aos filhos. 17,23,26,28 É possível observar que os pais têm consciência do impacto que a televisão causa na vida dos filhos. Isso foi constatado por uma pesquisa australiana realizada com 1128 crianças divididas em dois grupos, os mais jovens (5-6 anos) e os mais velhos (10-12 anos) onde foi avaliada a preocupação com o hábito de assistir televisão e comportamentos sedentários dos filhos.…”

Children Obesity from Global Determinants to Local Consequences: The Indian Perspective

“…The experiences gained while carrying out large pan surveys on children's nutrition disorders in Latin-America [32], contributed to the realization of this challenging research project, focused on understanding how overnutrition could be considered a cultural-specific topic, along with foreign, globalization related variables. Factors concerning mothers' perception of their children's weight status [35], public policy themes like the impact of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), inducing obesity [36], or behavioral patterns involved in appetite mechanisms [37] should be understood as local specific, evidencing the urgent need in modifying some universal statements, promoted up to day by the World Health Organization on a global level.…”

“…The present special issue of the Indian Journal of Pediatrics, collects seven inter-discipliner contributions, developed by a pluri-professional team of experts in nutrition related diseases, namely otolaryngologists, epidemiologists, nurses, statisticians and psychologists. Such a poly-scientific pool allowed investigating on the interaction among several structural (cultural and social) [26,27], functional (behavioral and cognitive) [28,29], as well as psychological (motivational and emotional) aspects [30], implicated in children's excessive and unhealthy energy intake, strictly associated to TV exposure [31], marketing campaigns [32], brand awareness [33] and physical inactivity [34].…”