What Is the Nutritional Quality of Pre-Packed Foods Marketed to Children in Food Stores? A Survey in Switzerland.

Food marketing targeting children influences their choices and dietary habits, and mainly promotes food high in fat, sugar, and salt as well as ultra-processed food. The aim of this study was to assess the nutritional quality of food and beverages marketed to children over the age of 3 and available on the Swiss market. Products with at least one marketing technique targeting children on the packaging were selected from five food store chains. Three criteria to assess nutritional quality were used: (1) nutritional composition (using the Nutri-Score), (2) degree of processing (NOVA classification), and (3) compliance with the World Health Organization (WHO) Nutrient Profile Model (NPM). A total of 735 products were found and analyzed. The most common marketing techniques used were childish names/fonts (46.9%), special characters (39.6%), and children's drawings (31.3%). Most products had a Nutri-Score of D or E (58.0%) and were ultra-processed (91.8%). Only 10.2% of products displayed the Nutri-Score. The least processed products generally had a better Nutri-Score (p < 0.001). Most products (92.8%) did not meet the criteria of the WHO NPM. Products that met the WHO NPM criteria, organic products, and products with a nutritional claim generally had a better Nutri-Score and were less processed (ps < 0.05). Pre-packaged foods and beverages marketed to children in the Swiss market were mostly of poor nutritional quality. Public health measures should be adopted to improve the nutritional quality of foods marketed to children in Switzerland and restrict the marketing of unhealthy foods to children.

Current Recommendations for Nutritional Management of Overweight and Obesity in Children and Adolescents: A Structured Framework.

Nutritional management is an important component of the treatment of pediatric overweight and obesity, but clinicians struggle to keep abreast with the abundant literature. Therefore, our aim is to provide a tool that integrates the current recommendations and clinical expertise to assist dietitians and other practitioners in their decision making about the nutritional management of pediatric overweight and obesity. To construct this practice-based evidence-informed framework, we conducted a systematic review of the guidelines on nutritional management of pediatric overweight or obesity in 2 databases and in the grey literature. We analyzed and synthesized recommendations of 17 guidelines. We selected the recommendations that were common to at least 30% of the guidelines and added by consensus the recommendations relevant to clinical expertise. Finally, we structured the framework according to the Nutritional Care Process in collaboration with a specialized team of dietitians who assessed its validity in clinical practice. The framework contributes to facilitate the integration of evidence-based practice for dietitians by synthesizing the current evidence, supporting clinical expertise, and promoting structured care following Nutrition Care Process model for children and adolescents with obesity.