Publicidad de alimentos no saludables. Posicionamiento del Comité de Nutrición y Lactancia Materna de la Asociación Española de Pediatría / Unhealthy food advertising. A position paper by the AEP Committee on nutrition and breastfeeding

Introducción: Entre los factores más importantes que influyen en la aparición y el mantenimiento de malos hábitos de alimentación están la accesibilidad y publicidad de los productos alimentarios menos saludables. Con el objetivo de elaborar y fundamentar recomendaciones, se ha realizado un análisis de la evidencia disponible sobre el impacto de la publicidad de alimentos en la salud de niños y adolescentes. Métodos: Se ha realizado una revisión bibliográfica de revisiones sistemáticas y metaanálisis publicados hasta enero del 2022 con el término «food advertising», incluyendo aquellas que analizaban el impacto de la publicidad de alimentos sobre el peso, el índice de masa corporal, la adiposidad, la ingesta dietética, la conducta ante el producto anunciado, su compra o su consumo en niños y adolescentes. Resultados: Fueron incluidas 21 revisiones sistemáticas que incluyen un total de 490 artículos, 5 de las cuales contienen además un metaanálisis. La gran mayoría de los estudios primarios evalúan efectos intermedios, relacionados con el comportamiento de niños y adolescentes ante los productos anunciados y su consumo. Existe gran variedad en cuanto al tipo de publicidad y efectos estudiados. La mayoría de los trabajos muestra una asociación entre el tipo de publicidad y el efecto concreto analizado, siendo más evidente en menores de 12 años y en niños obesos. Las revisiones más recientes se centran en la publicidad on-line indicando sus efectos nocivos especialmente en adolescentes. (AU)

Introduction: Some important factors influencing and maintaining unhealthy habits are food advertising and products accessibility. In order to develop and support recommendations, an analysis of the available evidence on the impact of food advertising on the health of children and adolescents has been carried out. Methods: Literature review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses published up to January 2022 for the term «food advertising» that analyzed the impact of food advertising on weight, body mass index, adiposity, dietary intake, behavior toward the advertised product, its purchase or consumption in children and adolescents. Results: Twenty-one systematic reviews fulfilled the inclusion criteria, including a total of 490 primary studies, 5 of which also contained a meta-analysis. The vast majority of the primary studies evaluate intermediate effects, related to the behavior of children and adolescents in relation to advertised products and their consumption. There is great variety in terms of the type of advertising and effects studied. Most of studies agree that there is an association between food advertising and effect analyzed, being more evident in children under 12 years of age and in obese children. Most recent systematic reviews are focused on on-line advertising, noticing the negative effects especially in adolescents. (AU)

Unhealthy food advertising. A position paper by the AEP Committee on Nutrition and Breastfeeding.

INTRODUCTION: Some important factors influencing and maintaining unhealthy habits are food advertising and products accessibility. In order to develop and support recommendations, an analysis of the available evidence on the impact of food advertising on the health of children and adolescents has been carried out. METHODS: Literature review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses published up to January 2022 for the term "food advertising" that analyzed the impact of food advertising on weight, body mass index (BMI), adiposity, dietary intake, behavior toward the advertised product, its purchase or consumption in children and adolescents. RESULTS: Twenty-one systematic reviews fulfilled the inclusion criteria, including a total of 490 primary studies, 5 of which also contained a meta-analysis. The vast majority of the primary studies evaluate intermediate effects, related to the behavior of children and adolescents in relation to advertised products and their consumption. There is great variety in terms of the type of advertising and effects studied. Most of the studies agree that there is an association between food advertising and effect analyzed, being more evident in children under 12 years of age and in obese children. Most recent systematic reviews are focused on online advertising, noticing the negative effects especially in adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: Children and adolescents are a particularly vulnerable population to food advertising strategies. Despite the difficulty to demonstrate an independent effect, there is evidence of an association between food advertising and childhood and adolescents' behavior respect to the announced products, and the increase of consumption at short-term. In Spain unhealthy product advertising are still very common in the media and in the children and adolescent's online environment. The Nutrition and Breastfeeding Committee of the Spanish Association of Pediatrics supports the need for regulation and limitation of unhealthy food advertising, covering all media and marketing strategies.

Investigating the Impact of Stimulus Equivalence on Children's Food Choice and Preference / Investigando o Impacto da Equivalência de Estímulos na Escolha e Preferência de Alimentos por Crianças / Investigando el Impacto de la Equivalencia de Estímulos en la Elección y Preferencia de Alimentos por Niños

Abstract This study investigated the influence of character on food's choices. Eleven preschool children were trained to form two equivalent stimulus classes, each comprising one a cartoon character, a geometric shape, and an abstract symbol. One class had a liked character and the other a disliked character. Three preference tests were conducted where the children had to choose between two identical packages with samples of the same snack, differing only by the label. In Test 1 the labels were symbols of the same class as the liked and disliked characters; in Test 2 the choice was between the symbol of the same class as the disliked character and a new symbol; and in Test 3 children chose between the symbol of the equivalence class with the liked character and the logo of a known brand. Most children chose first, and reported to like more, the snack labeled with the symbol of the same class as the liked character. They also chose, and reported to like more, the snack labeled with a new stimulus over the symbol of the same class as the disliked character. These results confirmed that stimulus equivalence is a useful paradigm to investigate formation of preference for brands.

Resumo Esta pesquisa investigou a influência de personagens em escolhas alimentares. Doze crianças pré-escolares formaram inicialmente duas classes de estímulos equivalentes, cada uma contendo um personagem, uma forma geométrica e um símbolo abstrato. Uma das classes continha um personagem de que a criança gostava e a outra de que a criança não gostava. Três testes de escolha alimentar foram conduzidos nos quais o participante deveria escolher entre duas embalagens idênticas com o mesmo alimento, diferindo somente o rótulo. No Teste 1, os rótulos continham os símbolos da classe do personagem atrativo e não atrativo; No Teste 2, a escolha era entre o símbolo da classe do personagem não atrativo e um símbolo novo; e no Teste 3 a escolha era entre o símbolo da classe do personagem atrativo e o logo de uma marca conhecida. A maioria das crianças escolheu e demonstrou preferência pelo alimento com o símbolo equivalente ao personagem de que gostava. Também escolheram e disseram gostar mais do alimento com o símbolo novo no rótulo ao invés do que continha o símbolo equivalente ao personagem não atrativo. Os resultados apontam a equivalência de estímulos como uma abordagem útil para investigar a formação de preferência por marcas.

Resumen Este estudio investigó la influencia de los personajes en la elección de alimentos. 12 niños preescolares formaran dos clases de estímulos equivalentes, contiendo a un personaje infantil, una forma geométrica, y a un símbolo abstracto. Una clase tenía un personaje que le gustaba al niño y la otra un personaje que no le gustaba. Tres testes de preferencia fueron conducidos, en los que los niños tenían que escoger entre dos pedazos de la misma galleta, diferenciándose sólo por la etiqueta en el recipiente. En el Test 1, las etiquetas eran símbolos equivalentes al personaje que favorito y al que no le gustaba; en el Test 2, la elección fue entre el símbolo equivalente al personaje que no le gustaba y un símbolo nuevo; y en el Test 3, nos niños escogían entre el símbolo equivalente al personaje favorito y el logotipo de una marca conocida. La mayoría de los niños escogió primero, y prefirieron, la galleta etiquetada con el símbolo equivalente al personaje favorito. También escogieron, y prefirieron, la galleta etiquetada con el estímulo nuevo que con el símbolo equivalente al personaje que no les gustaba. Estos resultados confirmaron que la equivalencia de estímulos es un paradigma útil para investigar la formación de preferencia por las marcas.