Picture warnings on sodas? A promising tool to fight childhood obesity
Study conducted in 'mini mart' laboratory setting shows parents less
likely to choose sugary drinks with health warnings

Date:
February 1, 2022
Source:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Summary:
The first study in a laboratory 'mini mart' shows picture warnings
reduced parental purchases of sugary drinks like juice and soda.

Researchers say the warning labels could be new tool in fighting
childhood obesity.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A study published in the journal PLOS Medicine is the first to examine in
a realistic setting whether pictorial health warnings on sugary drinks
-- like juice and soda -- influence which beverages parents buy for
their children.


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The findings are promising: The warnings reduced parental purchases of
sugary drinks for their kids by 17%.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Gillings School of Global Public Health ran the study in a unique laboratory --
the "UNC Mini Mart." The space is set up to mimic a convenience store
shopping experience.

We created this store because we saw a major need for research that
tests the impact of policies in an food store setting that is much more realistic. When people make choices about what food to buy, they are
juggling dozens of factors like taste, cost, and advertising and are
looking at many products at once," says senior author Lindsey Smith
Taillie, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition at
the Gillings School and a member of UNC's Carolina Population Center
(CPC). "Showing that warnings can cut through the noise of everything else that's happening in a food store is powerful evidence that they would help reduce sugary drink purchases in the real world." Taillie's co-authors
from the Gillings School are lead author Marissa G. Hall, PhD, assistant professor in Gillings' Department of Health Behavior and a member of
both the CPC and UNC's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center (LCCC);
and Anna H. Grummon, PhD, an alumna of the Gillings Department of Health Behavior who is now a David. E. Bell Fellow at Harvard University.

Their positive findings about the effects of image-based warning labels highlight a recent but ever-more-common approach to combatting the
global struggle with obesity. Children in the United States and many
other countries consume more than the recommended amount of sugary
drinks, which increases their risk for obesity and diet-related chronic diseases, including Type 2 diabetes and heart conditions. There are
pronounced disparities by race/ ethnicity, with higher rates of sugary
drink consumption and obesity among Black and Latino children compared
to non-Latino white children, in part due to structural factors like
targeted marketing.

Taillie has conducted research on warning labels and taxes on
sugar-sweetened beverages and junk food in Chile, Mexico and South
Africa. Hall researches the impact of warnings on tobacco and food as
well as effectiveness of obesity prevention policies.

In their study, 326 parents (25% Black, 20% Latino) of children ages 2
to 12 years old participated in a randomized trial with 1) a pictorial
warning arm (in which drink labels had images representing heart damage
and Type 2 diabetes), and 2) a control arm (in which drinks labels
displayed a barcode).

Participants were instructed to choose one drink and one snack for their
child, along with one household good -- this shopping list was designed
to mask the purpose of the study. After shopping, participants completed
a survey about their selections and left with their drink of choice and
a cash incentive.

The picture warnings led to a 17% reduction in purchases of sugary drinks,
with 45% of parents in the control arm buying a sugary drink for their
child compared to 28% in the pictorial warning arm.

The warnings also reduced calories purchased from sugary drinks and
led to parents feeling more in control of healthy eating decisions
and thinking more about the harms of sugary drinks. The benefits of
the picture warnings were similar according to parent characteristics, including race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, suggesting picture warnings could work equally well across diverse populations. But larger
studies are needed to see how well warnings work for groups at highest
risk of diet-related disease.

"We think the paper could be useful for policymakers in the
U.S. and globally," Hall says. "This evidence supports strong,
front-of-package warnings to reduce sugary drink consumption
in children." special promotion Get a free digital "Metabolism
Myths" issue of New Scientist and discover the 7 things we
always get wrong about diet and exercise. Claim_yours_now_>>> ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_North_Carolina_at_Chapel_Hill. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Marissa G. Hall, Anna H. Grummon, Isabella C. A. Higgins, Allison J.

Lazard, Carmen E. Prestemon, Mirian I. Avendan~o-Galdamez, Lindsey
Smith Taillie. The impact of pictorial health warnings on purchases
of sugary drinks for children: A randomized controlled trial. PLOS
Medicine, 2022; 19 (2): e1003885 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003885 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220201143937.htm

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