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- Title
Child-appealing packaged food and beverage products in Canada–Prevalence, power, and nutritional quality.
- Authors
Mulligan, Christine; Vergeer, Laura; Kent, Monique Potvin; L'Abbé, Mary R.
- Abstract
Background: Children are frequently exposed to marketing on food packaging. This study evaluated the presence, type and power of child-appealing marketing and compared the nutritional quality of child-appealing vs. non-child-appealing Canadian packaged foods and examined the relationship between nutrient composition and marketing power. Methods: Child-relevant packaged foods (n = 5,850) were sampled from the Food Label Information Program 2017 database. The presence and power (# of techniques displayed) of child-appealing marketing were identified. Fisher's Exact test compared the proportion of products exceeding Health Canada's nutrient thresholds for advertising restrictions and Mann Whitney U tests compared nutrient composition between products with child- /non-child-appealing packaging. Pearson's correlation analyzed the relationship between nutrient composition and marketing power. Results: 13% (746/5850) of products displayed child-appealing marketing; the techniques used, and the power of the marketing varied (x¯ 2.2 techniques; range: 0–11). More products with child-appealing packaging than with non-child appealing packaging exceeded Health Canada's thresholds (98% vs. 94%; p <.001). Products with child-appealing packaging (vs. non-child-appealing) were higher in total sugars (median: 14.7 vs. 9 g/RA; p <.001) and free sugars (11.5 vs. 6.2 g/RA; p <.001), but lower in all other nutrients. There was weak overall correlation between marketing power and nutrient levels. Results varied by nutrient and food category. Conclusions: Unhealthy products with powerful child-appealing marketing displayed on package are prevalent in the food supply. Implementing marketing restrictions that protect children should be a priority.
- Subjects
CANADA; CANADA. Health Canada; PACKAGED foods; MANN Whitney U Test; PEARSON correlation (Statistics); FOOD packaging; FISHER exact test; MARKET power
- Publication
PLoS ONE, 2023, Vol 17, Issue 5, p1
- ISSN
1932-6203
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0284350