89 percent of children's food products provide poor nutrition...(and Activity a coalition of some 300 hea...),Health

Date:7/14/2008

and Activity, a coalition of some 300 health and nutrition organisations in the USA. The organisation states that its standards represent a compromise approach. They allow for the marketing of products that may not be nutritionally ideal, but that provide some positive nutritional benefits that could help children meet the US Government's Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

The 367 products included in the study were bought from a national supermarket chain stocking 50,000 food and non-food items in December 2005. Each had to meet very specific criteria.

"We included food products and packaging that were presented in such a way that children were the clear target audience" explains Professor Elliott, whose research was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. "They included products that promoted fun and play, had a cartoon image on the front of the box or were linked to children's films, TV programmes and merchandise."

Each product was subjected to a 36-point analysis that included the nutritional content and how the packaging was designed to appeal to children and their parents.

Key findings included:

• 63 per cent of all the products surveyed made some sort of nutritional claim, including 62 per of the products that could be classed as poorly nutritious, due to high levels of sugar or fat or sodium. A low percentage (eight per cent) carried some kind of nutrition mark or seal. Other claims included that products were low fat, a source of calcium, contained no artificial flavours or colours or provided a number of essential nutrients.

• Products with high sugar levels accounted for 70 per cent of the goods with PNQ. Despite this, 68 per cent included some sort of nutritional claim on the package, such as a source of whole grains, source of iron or low in fat. Cereals and fruit snacks were particularly likely to make nutritional claims and have high levels of sugar.
  
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Contact: Annette Whibley wizard.media@virgin.net Wiley-Blackwell Source:Eurekalert

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