Foods and drinks packaged for kids worse for health, study shows...

[DGUtley]

Foods and drinks packaged for kids worse for health, study shows...

230503162852-kids-packaged-food-nutrition-wellness-stock.jpg

Colorful labels and cartoons on packaging might be a good indicator that a snack isn’t the most nutritious, according to a new study. Products with marketing that appealed to children were higher in sugars and lower in all other nutrients, according to the study, published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One.


The study looked at nearly 6,000 packaged foods to analyze their number of marketing strategies aimed at children and their nutritional information. “There are many products in our grocery stores that are very powerfully marketed and heavily targeted to children,” said lead study author Dr. Christine Mulligan, a post-doctoral researcher and research consultant in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto in Canada. “Unfortunately, we also found that these products are, more often than not, very unhealthy and of worse nutritional quality than products that aren’t being promoted to children.”

Promoting to children is an appealing strategy for companies because kids will often grow up to be “brand-loyal adults” and keep coming back, said Dr. Maya Adam, director of health media innovation and a clinical associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the Stanford School of Medicine. Adam was not involved in the new study.


Untitled.jpg

Untitled.jpg


images.jpg


images.jpg

[RMNIXON]

When I was a kid Mom made lunch. Now it is a lot of prepackaged junk full of preservatives and not much nutrition.

[Dr. Who]

Foods and drinks packaged for kids worse for health, study shows...

Attachment 57196

Colorful labels and cartoons on packaging might be a good indicator that a snack isn’t the most nutritious, according to a new study. Products with marketing that appealed to children were higher in sugars and lower in all other nutrients, according to the study, published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One.


The study looked at nearly 6,000 packaged foods to analyze their number of marketing strategies aimed at children and their nutritional information. “There are many products in our grocery stores that are very powerfully marketed and heavily targeted to children,” said lead study author Dr. Christine Mulligan, a post-doctoral researcher and research consultant in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto in Canada. “Unfortunately, we also found that these products are, more often than not, very unhealthy and of worse nutritional quality than products that aren’t being promoted to children.”

Promoting to children is an appealing strategy for companies because kids will often grow up to be “brand-loyal adults” and keep coming back, said Dr. Maya Adam, director of health media innovation and a clinical associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the Stanford School of Medicine. Adam was not involved in the new study.


Attachment 57197

Attachment 57198


Attachment 57199


Attachment 57200

It took a study to figure that out? Just a look at the ingredients should tell you everything you need to know.

[Dr. Who]

When I was a kid Mom made lunch. Now it is a lot of prepackaged junk full of preservatives and not much nutrition.

In elementary school we were close enough to walk home for lunch, so needless to say, lunch was nutritious. By middle school and through high school I had to brown bag it. In middle school, my mother made my sandwich but I also could buy a soup and a milk at school. In high school, I made my own lunch and it was typically leftovers or a sandwich made from cold cuts or fish - often a sardine sandwich, because it was fast. Again, I'd often buy a soup but sometimes I'd buy my whole lunch if what they were serving in the cafeteria wasn't totally disgusting, which most of it was.