The objective of this study is to analyze how food advertising is perceived by mothers from different socioeconomic sectors of the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Between May and November 2015, eight focus groups were conducted with the participation of 49 mothers of different education levels living in the study area. The results show how the purchasing decisions of mothers are influenced by the requests of their children, which are in turn prompted by food advertising and promotion. The study also shows how food advertising and promotion are combined with other environmental factors (greater supply of food products, "more demanding" children) that affect the decision-making process of mothers regarding their children's nutrition and foster the consumption of certain unhealthy products. This situation was observed in all the focus groups, without differences among education levels.

As children are particularly vulnerable to marketing, this study analyzes marketing techniques and health/nutrition claims in food packaging and evaluates the nutritional quality in three food categories: sweet biscuits, breakfast cereals and dairy-based desserts. This descriptive study analyzed marketing techniques and claims included in food packaging (n = 301) in one of the largest retailers in Argentina. Trained researchers coded data following an adapted version of the INFORMAS protocol to account for local food packaging regulations. Nutritional quality was assessed using both Pan American Health Organization Nutrient Profile (PAHO NPM) and the WHO Regional Office for Europe Nutrient Profile (WHO Euro NPM) models. Under the PAHO model, 87% (n 262) of the product sample presented excess content of at least one nutrient (“less healthy” products), and 91% (n = 273) should not be marketed to children according to the WHO Euro model. Almost 40% of less healthy food products displayed nutrition claims on their package. Characters or celebrity endorsements, which are particularly attractive to children, featured in 32% of less healthy products, being more frequent in less healthy food products than in healthier ones. Results indicate that packaging for food products with low nutritional value often includes powerful marketing elements in Argentina, which renders young children very vulnerable to obesogenic influence. Moreover, the real nutritional value of the products analyzed were often at odds with the health claims shown on its package. Food labeling policies must be improved in Argentina to guarantee people’s health protection against deceptive advertising.

RESUMEN En mayo de 2016, el Poder Ejecutivo de Argentina sancionó el decreto 626, que aumentó los impuestos internos de los cigarrillos de 60% a 75%, lo que implicó un aumento de 50% en su precio medio de venta al público. Esta medida fue impulsada desde la Fundación Interamericana del Corazón (FIC) Argentina a través de una estrategia que incluyó el desarrollo de investigaciones locales para determinar la viabilidad y el impacto de la medida, la elaboración de una propuesta política, el trabajo en red con otras organizaciones de la sociedad civil nacionales e internacionales, acciones de incidencia colaborativa con referentes del Poder Ejecutivo Nacional y la implementación de una estrategia de comunicación. La particularidad de cada uno de los contextos económicos, sociales, políticos e institucionales de los países de la Región de las Américas requiere que las propuestas políticas se adecúen a la realidad local. La experiencia de trabajo desarrollada por FIC Argentina sirve como guía para otras organizaciones que en la Región buscan impulsar aumentos de los impuestos al tabaco u otras políticas destinadas a proteger la salud pública, adaptando las recomendaciones internacionales y la evidencia local al contexto de cada país. En este artículo se comparte una serie de lecciones aprendidas que pueden servir en otros países.