The impact of a cartoon character on adults perceptions of Children's breakfast cereals: a randomized experiment

Background Cartoon characters on processed food packaging increase the perception of product preference among children, but their effect among adults has rarely been examined. We evaluated the effect of a cartoon character on breakfast cereals on beliefs about buying them for children, as well as whether demographic characteristics modified this effect. Methods An experimental study was conducted with adults from online consumer panels in Mexico (n = 3755). Participants were randomly assigned to a “cartoon” condition (n = 1789), in which they viewed a breakfast cereal box with a Minion character on the front of the package, or the “control” condition (n = 1966), in which the same cereal box was displayed with no character on the package. Participants were asked: “Is this a good cereal to buy children?” with the response options “Yes”, “No”, or “Don’t know”. Multinomial adjusted logistic models regressed responses to this question (Yes = 0, No = 1, 2 = Don’t know) on experimental condition. Differences in the effect of the cartoon character across demographic characteristics were tested by introducing multiplicative interaction terms. Results The adjusted model showed that participants in the “cartoon character” condition were 1.67 (1.45–1.94) times more likely to consider the cereal as being “Not good to buy for children” than those in the control condition (p < 0.001). This effect was smaller among parents (RRR = 1.39, 1.13–1.72) compared to those without children (RRR = 2.01, 1.63–2.47). No differences were observed in the proportion of participants answering “Don’t know” across experimental groups. Conclusion Among this sample of Mexican adults, a cereal with a cartoon character on the packaging was more often perceived as “not good to buy for children” compared to a cereal without it. This effect was smaller among parents, potentially due to children influences of parental decisions during food purchasing.Funding for this project was provided by a Population Health Intervention Research operating grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research [CIHR) and the Public Health Agency of Canada. Additional funding for this project has been provided by a PHAC – CIHR Chair in Applied Public Health [DH). Bloomberg Philanthropies (Grant #43003) supported ACM's time writing the paper. The funding agencies did not play any role in the design of the study, analysis and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscript

“Sacbe”, a Comprehensive Intervention to Decrease Body Mass Index in Children with Adiposity: A Pilot Study

Interventions in children with adiposity decrease less than 0.2 the body mass index (BMI) z-score less than 0.2 and only in 21&ndash;23% of cases. Experts recommend focusing on the habits of a healthy lifestyle (HLS) but considering the sociocultural context of children and their parents. Our objective was to achieve a higher percentage of success in lowering the BMI z-score in children with adiposity and their parents through a pilot program &ldquo;Sacbe&rdquo; based on HLS, sensitive to the sociocultural context previously explored and with the active participation of parents. This is a pilot study in children aged 8 to 18 years with adiposity according to the BMI z-score. The program consisted of two workshops on HLS and nutrition given by the pediatric endocrinologist in group sessions with 3&ndash;5 families and reinforcements in each visit by registered dietitians. We recorded lifestyle habits and anthropometric characteristics of children and their parents at the baseline visit and every month for 3&ndash;4 months. Forty-nine families, 55 children and 64 parents participated, 60% of the children were female, the average age was 13.95 &plusmn; 3.3 years, 72.7% and 86.7% lowered the z score of the BMI due to intention to treat and protocol analysis (p &lt; 0.001), respectively; BMI z-score decreased by 0.22 &plusmn; 0.21, from 2.13 &plusmn; 0.57 to 1.91 &plusmn; 0.58 (p &lt; 0.001). In total, 83% of the parents involved were mothers, the average age was 45.8 &plusmn; 9.4 years, 77% lost weight and body fat (p &lt; 0.001), the frequency of unhealthy habits decreased. The results of &ldquo;Sacbe&rdquo; exceeded expectations by combining the active participation of parents, sessions in groups, and the education on various components of an HLS inside sociocultural context. The main challenge will be to standardize and reproduce this type of complex interventions, as well as to assure long-term success