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

Abstract

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.

That’s My Cue to Eat: A Systematic Review of the Persuasiveness of Front-of-Pack Cues on Food Packages for Children vs. Adults

“…There was great variability in the types of cues investigated on children and adults, and the influence of many cues remains unexplored. Informational cues, such as nutrition claims, product claims, captions, and call-to-actions are prevalent on children-targeted food packages [17,19], especially of core foods [88]. And yet, our review hardly identified any studies that investigated the impact of these cues on children's food behaviors.…”

Nutrient Composition of Foods Marketed to Children or Adolescents Sold in the Spanish Market: Are They Any Better?

“…This is in agreement with a study in the USA with 715 foods. Authors found that the increased presence of child-targeted cues was associated with more sugar and less fibre and protein [ 27 ].…”

“…Only a few papers address the nutritional differences between foods marketed to children and those not marketed to them [ 22 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. A study in the USA found that the increased presence of child-targeted cues was associated with more sugar and less fibre and protein [ 27 ]. To our knowledge, to date, no similar publications have been found for the Spanish market.…”

Influence of Mothers’ Nutrition Knowledge and Attitudes on Their Purchase Intention for Infant Cereal with No Added Sugar Claim

“…A previous study in Taiwan found that 72.9% of NAS infant food contained more than 10% calories from sugar; this might be because some infant food such ascereal or pure fruit puree contains natural sugar [ 20 ]. Several studies have also reported that many infant and toddler foods with nutrition claims also contain high sugar content or less healthy than those without claims [ 38 , 39 , 40 ]. In the United States, more than half of children’s food products with health or nutrition claims were found to contain more than 20% calories from sugar [ 38 ].…”