How healthy are Australian lunch box snacks with child‐directed marketing?

Abstract

Issue AddressedThe diets of Australian children, including their lunch boxes have a disproportionate amount of discretionary foods. Packaged snacks have marketing directed to both children and parents.MethodsPackaged school lunch box snacks were identified on supermarket websites. Nutrition information and child‐directed and parent‐directed marketing on the package were analysed. The “healthiness” of products was analysed using the Health Star Rating (HSR) (presently on packaging in Australia), two criteria designed for assessing food suitable for marketing to children (the Australian Health Council and the World Health Organization Western Pacific region) and Chilean criteria (used for broad food regulation).ResultsThe average HSR of the 135 products was 2.2% and 79% had a HSR <3.5. About 39% of products had child‐directed marketing. Child‐directed marketing would be removed from 89% sweet snacks, and 91% savoury snacks if products with a HSR <3.5 were not allowed to carry that marketing. This is less than the proportion not allowed using criteria from Chile (100%), World Health Organization Western Pacific Region (99%) and the Australian Health Council (93%).ConclusionsA policy that disallows marketing tactics on unhealthy food based on any of the criteria studied would remove most of both child‐directed and parent‐directed marketing on packaged lunch box snacks.So What?Removing child‐directed marketing from unhealthy products would help parents when shopping and contribute to addressing the high proportion of discretionary foods eaten by children at school. Child‐directed marketing on packaging should be a part of comprehensive regulation to protect children from the marketing of unhealthy foods.

Unpacking the cost of the lunchbox for Australian families: a secondary analysis

“…Specifically, a systematic review of 28 international studies found socio-economic position was associated with predictors of dietary intake including home-environment factors, parent modelling and child nutrition knowledge ( Zarnowiecki et al , 2014 ). Furthermore, barriers to food provision influence families differently based on their situation, for example, a qualitative study with Australian mothers found that mothers who lacked time for preparation were less concerned about financial constraints, thus spending more on food ( Watson-Mackie et al , 2023 ). While parent/caregiver employment status, used as a proxy for time availability, was not significantly associated with cost when other demographics were controlled in the present study, the example from Watson-Mackie et al .…”

“…Parent/caregiver employment status was used as a proxy to reflect parent/caregiver time availability, as being time poor is commonly identified as being a major limitation to preparing lunchbox foods. This relates to the findings from Watson-Mackie et al ., who found mothers who were not in the formal workforce had more time to prepare food that they considered healthy and avoid pre-packaged foods, in contrast with mothers working full-time ( Watson-Mackie et al , 2023 ). Additionally, international literature on both mothers and fathers demonstrates households with higher level of employment are more impacted by time barriers, contributing to convenience-based food choice coping strategies ( Devine et al , 2009 ; Wills et al , 2011 ).…”

“…The cost of food is one of many considerations faced in lunchbox food purchasing and preparation by parents ( Bathgate and Begley, 2011 ; Casado and Rundle-Thiele, 2015 ; Maher et al , 2020 ; Watson-Mackie et al , 2023 ). Literature investigating the perspectives of Australian parents when preparing lunchboxes has found food costs to be a commonly reported barrier, along with considering child preferences, limited time available for preparation, need for convenience and food safety concerns ( Bathgate and Begley, 2011 ; Casado and Rundle-Thiele, 2015 ).…”

“…Literature investigating the perspectives of Australian parents when preparing lunchboxes has found food costs to be a commonly reported barrier, along with considering child preferences, limited time available for preparation, need for convenience and food safety concerns ( Bathgate and Begley, 2011 ; Casado and Rundle-Thiele, 2015 ). Parent perceptions of these barriers have been discussed in relation to socio-demographic factors and family characteristics, including time availability, knowledge and disposable income availability ( Harman and Cappellini, 2015 ; Hansen et al , 2023 ; Watson-Mackie et al , 2023 ). Barriers including cost may have varying influence on families across socio-demographics.…”