Marketing foods to children: a comparison of nutrient content between children's and non-children's products

Lythgoe, Amelia; Roberts, Caireen; Madden, Angela; Rennie, Kirsten L.

doi:10.1017/s1368980013000943

Cited by 27 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Furthermore, while previous studies had not tested whether increased attempts (e.g. more cues) to market to children were associated with decreases in nutritional content, the current study found that this is precisely the case as increases in the number of child-friendly cues were associated with linear increases in sugar content along with linear decreases in select protective nutrition content, like fibre content and protein content (19,20,22,35,36) . This relationship was found when Table 3 Results of multiple regression models testing the effect of child-friendly and nutrition marketing cues on nutritional content for products in the cereal aisle (n 312) sampled from one branch of a regional supermarket chain in the Southeastern USA, data collected from −0·10 ( * ) P < 0·10, *P < 0·05, **P < 0·01, ***P < 0·001.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 65%

Child-directed and nutrition-focused marketing cues on food packaging: links to nutritional content

Lapierre

Brown

Houtzer

et al. 2016

Public Health Nutr.

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Objective: We tested whether the presence of both child-targeted and nutritionfocused (i.e. parent-targeted) marketing cues on food packaging was associated with the nutritional content of these products. Design: We conducted a quantitative content analysis of 403 food packages chosen randomly from the supermarket's online portal along with all products (n 312) from the cereal aisle in a supermarket from the Southeastern USA. We examined main and interaction effects for cues on nutritional content (e.g. energy density, sugar, sodium, fibre). Setting: A regional supermarket chain in the Southeastern USA. Results: Tests of main effects indicated that increased presence of nutritional cues was linked to more nutritious content (e.g. less sugar, less saturated fat, more fibre) while the increased presence of child-targeted cues was uniformly associated with less nutritious content (e.g. more sugar, less protein, less fibre). Among the interaction effects, results revealed that products with increased nutrition-focused and child-targeted cues were likely to contain significantly more sugar and less protein than other products. Conclusions: Products that seek to engage children with their packaging in the supermarket are significantly less nutritious than foods that do not, while product packages that suggest nutritional benefits have more nutritious content. More importantly, the study provides evidence that those products which try to engage both child and parent consumers are significantly less healthy in crucial ways (e.g. more sugar, less fibre) than products that do not.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 65%

Child-directed and nutrition-focused marketing cues on food packaging: links to nutritional content

Lapierre

Brown

Houtzer

et al. 2016

Public Health Nutr.

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“…2-9 years); cartoon, television (TV) series or film characters; own-brand characters; child celebrities; images of animals or creatures; games or hobbies; colours or shapes that appeal to children (e.g. brightly coloured drinks or alphabet soup); or free gifts (31,(34)(35)(36) . Two researchers were involved in the identification of products aimed at children.…”

Section: Sampling: Definition Of Food Products Targeted At Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of the nutritional content of products, with and without nutrient claims, targeted at children in Brazil

et al. 2016

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Many children's food products highlight positive attributes on their front-of-package labels in the form of nutrient claims. This cross-sectional study investigated all retailed packaged foods (n 5620) in a major Brazilian supermarket, in order to identify the availability of products targeted at children, and to compare the nutritional content of products with and without nutrient claims on labels. Data on energy, carbohydrate, protein, fibre, Na and total and SFA content, along with the presence and type of nutrient claims, were obtained in-store from labels of all products. Products targeted at children were identified, divided into eight food groups and compared for their nutritional content per 100 g/ml and the presence of nutrient claims using the Mann-Whitney U test (P < 0·05). Of the 535 food products targeted at children (9·5 % of all products), 270 (50·5 %) displayed nutrient claims on their labels. Children's products with nutrient claims had either a similar or worse nutritional content than their counterparts without nutrient claims. The major differences among groups were found in Group 8 (e.g. sauces and ready meals), in which children's products bearing nutrient claims had higher energy, carbohydrate, Na and total and SFA content per 100 g/ml than products without nutrient claims (P < 0·05). This suggests that, to prevent misleading parents who are seeking healthier products for their children, the regulation on the use of nutrient claims should be revised, so that only products with appropriate nutrient profiles are allowed to display them.Key words: Labelling: Food products: Packages: Children: Nutrition Brazil, similar to most developing countries, has experienced an increasing trend towards purchasing and consuming processed food products (1) , as well as rising rates of overweight, obesity and other non-communicable diseases. The increase in obesity in the country has followed the classical demographic spread from adults to adolescents and then to children (2) . In 2013, 56·9 % of Brazilian adults were overweight and about 20·8 % were obese (3) . From 1974 to 2009, the prevalence of overweight in children (6-11 years) significantly increased among both males (8·3-33·8 %) and females (7·2-30·0 %) (2) , whereas obesity rates among children (5-9 years) reached 15·0 % (4) . Brazilian overweight and obesity rates are higher than global averages, ranking fifth among all countries in terms of number of obese people (5) . It has been estimated that by 2050 the healthcare costs attributable to obesity and overweight-related diseases in Brazil will double from $5·8 billion to $10·1 billion, and that nearly 70 % of Brazilian adults could be overweight if the present trends are sustained (6)

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“…A recent review of experimental studies involving children's mascots and licensed characters found high rates of recognition for popular characters and a greater likelihood of choosing foods presented with familiar characters (3) . Previous research from several countries has found children's products in supermarkets to be high in sugar and/or fat (4)(5)(6) . Meanwhile, TV advertisements for food during children's programming are often for unhealthy food items (7)(8)(9) .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Pester power and its consequences: do European children’s food purchasing requests relate to diet and weight outcomes?

Huang

Reisch

Gwozdz

et al. 2016

Public Health Nutr.

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Objective: Children may influence household spending through 'pester power'. The present study examined pestering through parent-child food shopping behaviours in relation to children's diet and weight status. Design: Cross-sectional and prospective analyses drawn from the IDEFICS study, a cohort study of parents and their children. Children's height and weight were measured and their recent diets were reported by parental proxy based on the Children's Eating Habits Questionnaire-FFQ at baseline and 2-year follow-up. Parents also completed questionnaires at both time points about pestering, including whether the child goes grocery shopping with them, asks for items seen on television and is bought requested food items. Setting: Participants were recruited from eight European countries for the IDEFICS study (non-nationally representative sample). Subjects: Study participants were children aged 2-9 years at enrolment and their parents. A total of 13 217 parent-child dyads were included at baseline. Two years later, 7820 of the children were re-examined. Results: Most parents (63 %) at baseline reported 'sometimes' acquiescing to their children's requests to purchase specific foods. Pestering was modestly associated with weight and diet. At baseline, children whose parents 'often' complied consumed more high-sugar and high-fat foods. Children who 'often' asked for items seen on television were likely to become overweight after 2 years (OR = 1·31), whereas 'never' asking protected against overweight (OR = 0·72). Conclusions: Pestering was modestly related to diet and weight in cross-sectional, but not longitudinal analyses. Asking for items seen on television had the most robust relationships across child outcomes and over time.

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Marketing foods to children: a comparison of nutrient content between children's and non-children's products

Cited by 27 publications

References 29 publications

Child-directed and nutrition-focused marketing cues on food packaging: links to nutritional content

Child-directed and nutrition-focused marketing cues on food packaging: links to nutritional content

Comparison of the nutritional content of products, with and without nutrient claims, targeted at children in Brazil

Pester power and its consequences: do European children’s food purchasing requests relate to diet and weight outcomes?

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