No abstract

This article provides a nutritional profile of foods targeted specifically at children in the Canadian supermarket. Excluding confectionery, soft drinks and bakery items, 367 products were assessed for their nutritional composition. The article examines the relationship between 'fun food' images/messages, product claims and actual product nutrition. Among other findings, it concludes that approximately 89% of the products analysed could be classified as of poor nutritional quality owing to high levels of sugar, fat and/or sodium. Policy considerations need to be made in light of the fact that 'fun food' is a unique category that poses special challenges; as such, recommendations regarding food labelling and packaging are presented.

Fun food is an overlooked, but increasingly significant, category of food targeted to children in the supermarket. These supermarket products emphasize foods’ play factor, interactivity, artificiality, and general distance from “regular” foods: food is positioned as “fun” and eating as “entertainment.” Using a series of focus groups, this study examined how children (segmented by age and gender) interpret these packaged appeals and how the thematic of fun connects with their understanding of health and nutrition. The study revealed that children are highly attuned to fun foods and its packaging, offering savvy, if flawed, interpretations of how to determine the healthfulness of a packaged good. I argue that the symbolic positioning of children’s food as fun and fake creates several roadblocks in the quest to promote wholesome food habits in children, and that the thematic of fun has unintended consequences that require careful consideration.Résumé : Au supermarché, les aliments amusants sont une catégorie de nourriture négligée – mais de plus en plus importante – qui cible les enfants. De tels produits mettent l’accent sur l’aspect ludique, interactif et artificiel de la nourriture ainsi que sur leur distance par rapport à la nourriture « normale »; ainsi, ces aliments sont qualifiés d’amusants et manger est un divertissement. Cette étude se fonde sur une série de groupes de discussion pour examiner comment les enfants (divisés par âge et sexe) interprètent ce conditionnement des aliments et comment la thématique du plaisir influence leur compréhension de ce qui est sain et nutritif. L’étude révèle que les enfants sont très sensibles aux nourritures amusantes et à leur présentation, et offrent des interprétations astucieuses mais défectueuses de leur valeur nutritive. Je soutiens que le positionnement symbolique de la nourriture pour enfants dans le domaine du plaisir et de l’artifice crée de nombreux obstacles pour la promotion de bonnes habitudes alimentaires chez les enfants, et que la thématique du plaisir a des conséquences non intentionnelles qui requièrent une attention toute particulière.

Childhood obesity is a significant problem that requires innovative solutions. This article suggests that researchers and policy-makers move beyond a scrutiny of junk food and televised advertisements to children to focus on the messages targeted to children in the supermarket. Following a content analysis of fun foods marketed to children, the article (a) outlines why the recoding of "regular" food into "fun food" contributes to the childhood obesity crisis, and (b) suggests how the meaning-making practices of food can be acknowledged in the policy-making process.

Baby and toddler foods are currently overlooked in the public, and public policy, discussions pertaining to dietary sodium and sugar. Yet these products are clearly of concern and should be closely monitored, since they promote a taste for 'sweet' and 'salty' in our youngest consumers.