May 4, 2023 – A brand new Canadian study shows that packaged foods for kids that feature popular characters on their packaging are more likely to be less healthy than alternatives without eye-catching labels.
Researchers on the University of Toronto said their study was designed to look at “the relationship between nutrient composition and marketing power.” They examined packaging design and dietary information of 5,850 “child-relevant” packaged foods listed in a Canadian database in 2017. More than 20 food categories were defined by the researchers as “child-relevant.” The list included cookies, crackers, toasted biscuits, drinking yogurt and cereal.
A complete of 13% of the “child-relevant” foods were classified by the researchers as “marketed in a child-friendly manner.” These foods were significantly more more likely to have poor dietary value than foods with less appealing packaging. The foods with packaging designed to influence children were more more likely to have high sugar content and low levels of nutrients that children need most, in line with Canadian health authorities.
The Results were published on Wednesday within the magazine Plus one.
“There are many products in our grocery stores that are heavily marketed and heavily targeted at children,” said study creator Christine Mulligan, PhD CNN“Unfortunately, we also found that these products are often very unhealthy and have a lower nutritional value than products that are not advertised for children.”
Public health officials worldwide have expressed concern in regards to the rising variety of diet-related health problems in children, similar to obesity and diabetes. The CDC issued an alarming report This is because initially of the 12 months, one in three children within the USA doesn't eat their day by day portion of fruit and half of the kids don't eat their day by day portion of vegetables.
The researchers called on governments to manage promoting targeted at children on food packaging.
“Unhealthy products with strong, child-friendly promoting on [the] Packaging is widespread within the food supply,” the authors concluded. “Implementing marketing restrictions to guard children ought to be a priority.”