Children will pick a meal that comes with a free movie character toy, regardless of whether the meal is healthy or unhealthy, according to new research from Cancer Council Victoria.
The study confirms that marketing plays a huge role in children’s food preferences, with Cancer Council Victoria senior research fellow Helen Dixon calling for better use of marketing to promote healthier food.
'Movie tie-ins and free character toys are powerful tools used by fast food chains and food manufacturers to attract kids – and our research really captures the enormous impact this approach has,' Dixon said. 'The children in our study were more likely to choose a meal if it was tied to a free movie character toy.'
It’s no news to the fast food industry, which has used marketing tactics aimed at children for decades, but Dixon said there needs to be a shift.
'Marketing could be put to better use promoting healthier foods to kids. We found that when a healthier meal was offered with a character toy, children reported they'd be more likely to ask their parents for that meal. Children believed the meal with the toy looked better, would taste better, and that they would feel happier if their parents bought them the meal,' Dixon said.
'Given the pester power parents face from their children, restricting toy premiums to healthy foods would harness this persuasivetechnique to support rather than undermine parent's efforts to help their kids achieve a healthy diet.'
Restricting toy giveaways to healthier products could be another avenue to encouraging children to choose healthier meals, added Obesity Policy Coalition executive manager Jane Martin.
'On average, unhealthy foods contribute as much as 41 per cent of daily energy intake for Australian school-aged children. The food industry should not be using any tactics which further encourage children to want to eat unhealthy food, such as offering free toys or cross-promoting unhealthy meals with popular kids' movies,' Martin said.
'In the US, San Francisco and Santa Clara County in California have banned restaurants from providing toy incentives with children's meals that don't meet set nutritional standards for healthy food. At a time when one in four Australian children are overweight or obese, we strongly encourage government to introduce policies to restrict food companies from offering toys and other child-oriented giveaways with unhealthy food and drinks.'
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