The Power of Packaging: A Scoping Review and Assessment of Child-Targeted Food Packaging

Abstract

Child-targeted food marketing is a significant public health concern, prompting calls for its regulation. Product packaging is a powerful form of food marketing aimed at children, yet no published studies examine the range of literature on the topic or the “power” of its marketing techniques. This study attempts such a task. Providing a systematic scoping review of the literature on child-targeted food packaging, we assesses the nutritional profile of these foods, the types of foods examined, and the creative strategies used to attract children. Fifty-seven full text articles were reviewed. Results identify high level trends in methodological approaches (content analysis, 38%), outcomes measured (exposure, 44%) and with respect to age. Studies examining the nutritional profile of child-targeted packaged foods use various models, classifying from anywhere from 41% to 97% of products as unhealthy. Content analyses track the prevalence of child-targeted techniques (cartoon characters as the most frequently measured), while other studies assess their effectiveness. Overall, this scoping review offers important insights into the differences between techniques tracked and those measured for effectiveness in existing literature, and identifies gaps for future research around the question of persuasive power—particularly when it comes to children’s age and the specific types of techniques examined.

Examining the Relationship between Sugar Content, Packaging Features, and Food Claims of Breakfast Cereals

“…For each product, we gathered images of the front and the back of the package. Besides the information described in Figure 1, we also categorized other packaging elements, such as the presence of children-oriented design (e.g., cartoon characters, cartoonish fonts, see also [11,20]) and traffic light labeling in the front of the package, as well as the list of ingredients.…”

“…see also [11,20]) and traffic light labeling in the front of the package, as well as the list of ingredients.…”

“…The visual attributes of food packaging are all the elements that set up the product design (e.g., layout, color combination and contrast, photography or illustrations, size, and shape of packaging). For instance, cartoon characters are a feature of food packaging known to capture the attention of consumers, particularly children, promoting the desire for the product [20]. The informational elements might include packaging technology (e.g., "made from recycled material"), but more frequently, they refer to information about the product itself, namely nutritional verbal or numeric information, such as food labels [18,19].…”

Sugar reduction in products targeted at children: Why are we not there yet?

“…A recent review by Elliott and Truman (2020) showed that the vast majority of the products targeted at children available in the market cannot be regarded as suitable for them due to their high energy density and added sugar and fat. Sugar has been reported to be the most common nutrient exceeding nutritional recommendations among products targeted at children.…”

“…Nowadays, products with high sugar content targeted at children can be found across a wide range of food categories, including confectionary, cookies, dairy products, cereals and sweetened beverages (Elliott & Truman, 2020). Products are targeted at children through packaging and are also frequently formulated specifically for them; the problem is that such products are not actually healthier.…”