ArticlePublic health nutrition2023
Chocolate unicorns and smiling teddy biscuits: analysis of the use of child-directed marketing on the packages of Australian foods.
Article in Public health nutrition, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- The Extension of Added Sugar Use in Packaged Foods Targeted at Children in Brazil.Maternal & child nutrition · 2026Article
- A Growing Problem: Increases in Child-Appealing Marketing on Infant and Young Children's Foods in Australia (2015 vs 2024).Maternal & child nutrition · 2026Article
- Ultra-processed food consumption in Scotland: a nationally representative analysis of sociodemographic patterns and dietary contributions.Public health nutrition · 2026Article
- Driving Research and Advocacy for Healthy Infant and Toddler Diets: The Infant and Toddler Foods Research Alliance.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- Unhealthy food advertising on social media: policy lessons from the Australian Ad Observatory.Health promotion international · 2025Article
- Additives in foods marketed to children in Uruguay, an emerging Latin American country.Journal of nutritional science · 2025Article
- Assessment of foods for infants and toddlers in Australia against the World Health Organization's Nutrient and Promotion Profile Model for food products for infants and young children.Public health nutrition · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThe use of food packaging as a vehicle for marketing to children is under investigated. Our objective was to determine the prevalence and types of child-directed promotional techniques used on food packaging in Australia.
designBased on existing literature and regulations, we developed a framework to classify on-pack child-directed promotional techniques involving the use of characters and other elements that appeal to children. We analysed the packaging of all products in eight food categories available for sale from supermarkets in 2019 and recorded the use of child-directed promotions on pack. We assessed the number and proportion of products displaying child-directed promotional techniques overall and assessed the healthiness of products using child-directed promotions against four indicators of healthiness to provide summary data overall and for the manufacturers who most frequently employed child-targeted strategies.
settingData were collected from the FoodSwitch database in Sydney, Australia.
results901/8006 (11·3 %) products displayed one or more child-directed on-pack element. Most frequent was on foods for infants and young children (
conclusionsAustralian children are targeted by promotional techniques on the packaging of unhealthy food products. Stronger regulation of these techniques is warranted to protect children's health.
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