Many ready-made infant and toddler foods (RITFs) contain high levels of added sugar, which can cause dental damage and set up a preference for sweet foods, leading to unhealthy weight gain, dental caries, and chronic diseases later in life. Sugary RITFs are frequently marketed and labelled in ways that confer a ‘health halo’ and may mislead parents about their true contents. The aim of this project is to test the efficacy of placing ‘added sugar’ warning labels (ASWLs) and removing on-pack marketing claims on RITFs to encourage parents to make healthier food choices for their young children. Three studies with Australian parents of infants/toddlers were conducted: (1) an online experiment testing different ASWLs to identify the best design for informing and motivating parents to select healthier RITFs; (2) an online shopping experiment to test the effect of adding ASWLs and removing front-of-pack marketing claims from RITFs on parent’s perceptions and purchasing preferences; (3) a real-world experiment testing effects of ASWLs on parent’s choice of foods to give their infant/toddler.
CBRC staff
A/Prof Helen Dixon, Dr Mamaru Awoke, Maree Scully, Dr Ashleigh Haynes, Dr Belinda Morley
Collaborators
Dr Jennifer McCann (Deakin University), A/Prof Bridget Kelly (University of Wollongong), Andrea Schmidtke, Jane Martin (Food for Health Alliance), Alison McAleese (Prevention Division, Cancer Council Victoria), Dr Lindsay Smith Taillie (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Dr Mihiri Silva, Dr Anthea Rhodes, Derek McCormack (Murdoch Children’s Research Institute), Prof Helen Skouteris, Siam Rakic (Monash University), Dr Mikaela Chinotti (Australian Dental Association)
Funding
Medical Research Future Fund (MRF2022166)
Years
2023 - present
Research output from this project
A summary of results from Study 2 (the online shopping experiment) is available.
