Nutritional content, labelling and marketing of breakfast cereals on the Belgian market and their reformulation in anticipation of the implementation of the nutri-score front-of-pack labelling system

Objective: Breakfast cereals are frequently consumed in Belgium, especially among children. We investigated the nutritional content, labelling and marketing of breakfast cereals and the changes in nutrient content and reformulation in anticipation of the implementation of the Nutri-Score front-of-pack label. Design: Pictures were taken of cereal packages. The WHO-Europe nutrient profiling tool was used to classify cereals into ‘permitted’/‘not-permitted’ to be marketed to children, while the nutritional quality was assessed using Nutri-Score. The proportion of cereals with nutrition and health claims and/or promotional characters on the front-of-pack was compared between permitted and not-permitted cereals and between different Nutriscore categories using Chi-squared tests. The average nutrient contents per 100g were compared between 2017 and 2018 using paired t-tests. Setting: Belgium. Participants: All breakfast cereals in the major supermarkets (n = 7) in 2017 and 2018. Results: Overall, 330 cereals were included. About 77.2% of cereals were not permitted to be marketed to children but, of those, 22.0% displayed promotional characters. More claims (68.9% of all claims) were found on ‘not-permitted’ compared with ‘permitted’ cereals, particularly nutrition claims. Most claims were displayed on cereals with the allocated Nutri-Score A (42.0%) and C (37.0%). A significant reformulation of cereals was found between 2017 and 2018, with reductions in total sugar (−5%) (p < 0.001) and sodium (−20%) (p = 0.002) and increases in fibre (+3%) (p = 0.012) and proteins (+2%) (p = 0.002). Conclusion: Breakfast cereals on the Belgian market are predominantly unhealthy and frequently carry claims and promotional characters. Minimal reformulation occurred over one year. Policy recommendations include restrictions on claims and marketing for not-permitted cereals

The impact of non-residential grandchild care on physical activity and sedentary behavior in people aged 50 years and over : study protocol of the Healthy Grandparenting Project

BackgroundFinding effective ways to support people aged >50years to develop adequate levels of physical activity and sedentary behavior is necessary as these behaviors are positively related to the maintenance of functional independence and health-related quality of life. Given the widespread provision of grandparental child care, examining its impact on grandparents' energy-expenditure related behavior in the broader context of health is imperative. Therefore, the Healthy Grandparenting Project will aim to investigate the levels of physical activity and sedentary behavior, body composition and health-related quality of life in grandparents caring for their grandchildren and to compare these outcomes with non-caregiving grandparents and older adults without grandchildren, both momentarily and over time. An additional purpose is to identify possible predictors of potential changes over time.MethodsA prospective cohort study will run over a period of 2 years, including three test occasions with a one-year time interval in between (T0=baseline, T1=12months, T2=24months). A total of 276 participants will be recruited in Flanders through non-probability quota sampling (50-50% men-women), of which 92 caregiving grandparents, 92 non-caregiving grandparents and 92 non-grandparents. All three subsamples will be matched for age and sex. At each test occasion, anthropometric and body composition measurements will be determined. Participants' levels of physical activity and sedentary behavior will be assessed both objectively and subjectively by means of accelerometry and self-report questionnaires. Information about their grandchildren and the provided grandparental care (if applicable) as well as their health-related quality of life will also be assessed using self-report questionnaires. Mixed modelling will be used to identify differences in physical activity, sedentary behavior, body composition and health-related quality of life between the subsamples at baseline, as well as to evaluate and compare changes in energy-expenditure related behavior over time between subsamples and to identify predictors of the detected changes.DiscussionThe Healthy Grandparenting Project is an innovative study examining the levels of physical activity and sedentary behavior in caregiving grandparents, non-caregiving grandparents and non-grandparents. Obtained results will help in the development of campaigns to maintain/improve health in adults at a more advanced age.Trial registrationclinicaltrials.gov, Identifier: NTC04307589. Registered March 2020

Consumers’ food choices, understanding and perceptions in response to different front-of-pack nutrition labelling systems in Belgium : results from an online experimental study

Background Front-of-pack nutrition labels (FoPLs) are increasingly implemented by governments internationally to support consumers to make healthier food choices. Although the Nutri-Score FOPL has officially been implemented in Belgium since April 2019, no study has been conducted before its implementation to compare the effectiveness of different FOPLs. Methods The aim of this study was to compare food choices, objective understanding and perceptions of Belgian consumers in response to five different FOPLs, currently implemented in different countries internationally, namely the Health Star Ratings (HSR), the Multiple Traffic Lights (MTL), Nutri-Score, Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA), and Warning symbols. During the summer 2019, 1007 Belgian consumers were recruited and randomized to one of the five different FOPLs. Through an online questionnaire they were asked to choose one of three different foods within each of three categories (pizzas, cakes, breakfast cereals), as well as rank those same three foods according to nutritional quality, in the condition without as well as with FOPL. In addition, various questions were asked on their perceptions in relation to the FOPL they were exposed to. Results Perceptions of consumers were favorable for all FOPLs with no significant differences between the different FOPLs. There were no significant differences in food choices among the different FOPLs, but Nutri-Score performed best for ranking food products according to nutritional quality. Conclusions While there were no significant differences among different FOPLs for food choices and perceptions, the Nutri-Score was the most effective FOPL in informing Belgian consumers of the nutritional quality of food products

Correction of MODIS surface reflectance time series for BRDF effects

International audienc

Nutritional Content, Labelling and Marketing of Breakfast Cereals on the Belgian Market and Their Reformulation in Anticipation of the Implementation of the Nutri-Score Front-Of-Pack Labelling System

OBJECTIVE: Breakfast cereals are frequently consumed in Belgium, especially among children. We investigated the nutritional content, labelling and marketing of breakfast cereals and the changes in nutrient content and reformulation in anticipation of the implementation of the Nutri-Score front-of-pack label. DESIGN: Pictures were taken of cereal packages. The WHO-Europe nutrient profiling tool was used to classify cereals into 'permitted'/'not-permitted' to be marketed to children, while the nutritional quality was assessed using Nutri-Score. The proportion of cereals with nutrition and health claims and/or promotional characters on the front-of-pack was compared between permitted and not-permitted cereals and between different Nutriscore categories using Chi-squared tests. The average nutrient contents per 100g were compared between 2017 and 2018 using paired t-tests. SETTING: Belgium. PARTICIPANTS: All breakfast cereals in the major supermarkets (n = 7) in 2017 and 2018. RESULTS: Overall, 330 cereals were included. About 77.2% of cereals were not permitted to be marketed to children but, of those, 22.0% displayed promotional characters. More claims (68.9% of all claims) were found on 'not-permitted' compared with 'permitted' cereals, particularly nutrition claims. Most claims were displayed on cereals with the allocated Nutri-Score A (42.0%) and C (37.0%). A significant reformulation of cereals was found between 2017 and 2018, with reductions in total sugar (-5%) (p < 0.001) and sodium (-20%) (p = 0.002) and increases in fibre (+3%) (p = 0.012) and proteins (+2%) (p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: Breakfast cereals on the Belgian market are predominantly unhealthy and frequently carry claims and promotional characters. Minimal reformulation occurred over one year. Policy recommendations include restrictions on claims and marketing for not-permitted cereals.status: publishe

Determinants of caregiving grandparents’ physical activity and sedentary behavior: a qualitative study using focus group discussions

Abstract Background Evidence on the factors influencing physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) in middle-aged and older adults taking care of their grandchild(ren) is limited, even though this knowledge seems imperative when considering the unique relationship between grandparents and their grandchild(ren) as well as the rising popularity of intergenerational interventions targeting these energy-expenditure related behaviors. Therefore, this explorative qualitative study aimed to identify the determinants of PA and SB levels among Flemish caregiving grandparents in the presence of their grandchild(ren) aged between 0–5 years. Methods Six online focus group discussions were conducted via Microsoft Teams, all of which were audio- and videotaped with permission granted by the participating grandparents. In total, nine caregiving grandfathers and 28 caregiving grandmothers (overall mean age = 60.9 ± 4.1y) participated in this study. An inductive content analysis approach was used to derive subcategories, categories and themes from the verbatim transcribed data using NVivo R1. Results Caregiving grandparents’ levels of PA and SB were both influenced by personal determinants (e.g., physical health, grandparental perceptions and responsibilities), interpersonal determinants (e.g., characteristics of the grandchild(ren), such as age-related physical/motor development and family interaction), and environmental determinants (e.g., weather and seasonal circumstances). PA levels of caregiving grandparents were further affected by additional personal determinants (e.g., age of the grandparent, planning and location) and interpersonal determinants (e.g., characteristics of the grandchild(ren), such as new experiences of the grandchild(ren)). Additionally, some personal determinants (e.g., perception of educational value) and interpersonal determinants (e.g., characteristics of the grandchild(ren), such as age-related cognitive development and health of the grandchild(ren)) were strictly mentioned to influence caregiving grandparents’ SB. Conclusions Acknowledging the unique relationship between grandparents and their grandchild(ren), the current study identified specific factors determining grandparents’ PA and SB levels during the provision of grandchild care. Besides, it turned out of importance to take the interplay between the different determinants into account. Especially, for those grandparents with older grandchild(ren), within the studied 0–5 years age range, more attention should be paid to grandchild characteristics as part of the interpersonal determinants when setting up interventions to improve levels of PA and SB in caregiving grandparents

Measuring the Directional Variations of Land Surface Reflectance From MODIS

International audienc

Validation and temporal analysis of LAI and FAPAR products derived from medium resolution sensors.

International audienc

Validation of coarse spatial resolution LAI and FAPAR time series over cropland in southwest France

International audienceKeywords: LAI GAI FAPAR Essential Climate Variables Green Area Index Radiative transfer model PROSAIL MODIS Formosat-2 Crop Validation Surface reflectance BRDF This study aims at validating Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR) products derived from MODIS surface reflectance (MOD09CMG) at coarse resolution (0.05°) over crops. These Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) are estimated by using the inversion of the PROSAIL radiative transfer (BV-NNET tool) applied on MODIS BRDF (Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function) corrected surface reflectances and non-corrected. ECV estimates and the corresponding MCD15A3 Collection 5 and GEOLAND-2 (GEOv1) products are compared with ECV reference maps derived from BV-NNET applied on 105 high spatial resolution images (Formosat-2, 8 m) which were acquired from 2006 to 2010 in Southwest France. These latter are compared with local scale in situ measurements. The validation shows an uncertainty of 0.35 and 0.07 for LAI and FAPAR, respectively. The comparison shows that the ECV estimates from the three products properly capture the crops phenology in agreement with reference maps. Results indicate that MCD15A3 uncertainties (0.23 and 0.07 for LAI and FAPAR, respectively) are similar to previous intercomparison studies. GEOv1 shows a systemic positive bias for both LAI and FAPAR. The best agreement with the reference maps is found for MODIS BV-NNET products with r 2 higher than 0.9 and relative uncertainties lower than 17%. The use of BRDF-corrected surface reflectances as input of BV-NNET tool improves the uncertainty of LAI estimates (0.11, compared to 0.17 when directional surface reflec-tances are used as input) but not the uncertainty of FAPAR estimates. The deviation between FAPAR products which mostly affects low winter FAPAR, is related to the discrepancy of the soil directional assumption in PROSAIL model and BRDF correction method. The temporal stability of the daily MODIS BV-NNET products is better than the 4-day composite MCD15A3 products. Finally, BV-NNET tool applied at finer resolutions demonstrates that the increase of the resolution results in a decrease of the LAI and FAPAR uncertainties and a conservation of the biases

The effect of nudges aligned with the renewed Flemish Food Triangle on the purchase of fresh fruits : an on-campus restaurant experiment

Objective: This study examined the effect of nudges, inspired by the recently renewed Flemish Food Triangle, on fruit sales in a Belgian on-campus university restaurant. Methods: In this mixed-method real-life experiment, nudges were added weekly over a period of four consecutive weeks: placement of (1) Food Triangle posters in the restaurant, (2) 'green heart' icons above the fruit stands, and (3) substitution and (4) social norm messages at the fruit stands. During baseline (no intervention) and all intervention weeks, dessert sales were registered. Short interviews were used to ask customers about their perceptions regarding the intervention. Follow-up measurements (7 and 30 weeks later) evaluated the longer-term effectiveness, while all nudges remained in place. Dessert sales were analyzed separately for both sexes, students and staff categories (based on academic degree). Results: Compared to baseline, the combination of the Food Triangle and the green heart intervention materials in week 2 resulted in significant increases in fruit consumption across almost all subgroups. The other intervention materials used in the current study had rather limited effects in the short term. After 7 weeks of followup, significant fruit sale increases were established for all subgroups compared to baseline. At 30 weeks followup, the effect for staff B (Bachelor's degree) disappeared. The majority of the respondents (66.4%) had noticed at least one of the nudges, while only 3.4% indicated to have adjusted their dessert choice as a result of the nudges. Conclusions: The combination of nudges was effective in the long term and increased fruit purchase in nearly all subgroups. Short interviews show that a more active approach may be needed to increase effect sizes