Effect of unhealthy food marketing on taste preferences in schoolchildren
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29105/respyn21.4-687Keywords:
Pediatric Obesity, Marketing, Industrialized Foods, Food Publicity, Nutritional LabelingAbstract
Introduction: The food choice is related to taste preferences and eating habits learned in childhood. Objective: To evaluate the effect of marketing strategies for unhealthy food packaging on the taste preferences of first grade students from elementary schools in the City of Santa Fe, in 2019. Material and method: Intervention study. Through a non-probabilistic convenience sampling, two elementary schools from different socio demographic levels in the city of Santa Fe were selected. Forty-five children of both sexes participated. They were evaluated anthropometrically and participated in the tasting of three pairs of food products, each one presented with its original container and another identical, but white or gray. It was assessed if the taste of each food pair was the same or different. If there was a reported difference, they were asked to indicate the product with the preferred flavor. A self-administered questionnaire inquired about consumption habits and the family environment. Results: 86% of the students evaluated anthropometrically presented excess of weight. Most participants found no difference in taste. Among those who answered that the taste was different, 68% belonged to a more vulnerable social stratum. In addition, more than 90% of boys and girls that perceived a difference in the taste of the product preferred the original packaging. Conclusions: The results of this study, carried out for the first time in Argentina, reinforce the debate on the relevance of a policy that regulates food advertising aimed at children.
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Copyright (c) 2022 María Celeste Nessier, María Victoria Cruz, Adriana Autelli, José Altamirano, Juliana Grimaldi, Agustina Marconi
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