END - Ending the inappropriate marketing of infant and toddler food product

Tang Tang School of Design https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/design/staff/475/dr-tang-tang

Marion M Hetherington, School of Psychology https://medicinehealth.leeds.ac.uk/psychology/staff/419/professor-marion-hetherington

Janet Cade, School of Food Science and Nutrition

https://environment.leeds.ac.uk/food-nutrition/staff/7150/professor-janet-cade

The inappropriate marketing of baby and toddler food products has been shown to have a negative impact on children's health, including an increased risk of obesity and chronic diseases (WHO, 2013).To address this issue, WHO has developed the Nutrient and Promotion Profile Model (NPPM) as a tool to assess the nutritional quality and marketing practices of food products targeted at infants and young children. However, despite the existence of regulations, guidelines, and tools provided by the WHO, non-permitted marketing techniques are still prevalent in the market. It is essential to implement stronger regulations and enforcement instruments to combat inappropriate marketing practices and promote healthier food choices among parents for infants and young children.

Designers have a crucial role to play in promoting healthy food choices through packaging design (Ares and Deliza, 2010, Labbe et al., 2013), educational campaigns (Miller et al., 2017), and digital products and services (e.g. mobile applications, Wang et al., 2017). Several studies have found that food packaging design can influence consumer behaviour, such as Cowburn and Stockley's (2005) research on the impact of packaging design on food choices and Chu et al.’s (2021) systematic review of the impact of packaging design on food intake. Moreover, parents are willing to pay more for innovative portion control design concepts and choose them over their regular brand in most cases (Tang et al., 2022). Design can play a critical role in promoting responsible marketing practices, but there is limited research on the specific strategies and interventions that could be used.

This study aims to explore the impacts of packaging and labelling design on the inappropriate marketing of infant and toddler food products, and to identify effective design strategies to promote optimal infant and toddler nutrition. Specifically, the research project aims to address the following research questions.

• How does the on-package messaging on solid baby and toddler foods compare to UK legislations and guidance issued by the Department of Health and Social Care?
• how do parents perceive, understand, and interact with infant and toddler food packaging and nutrition labels and utilise them make food purchase decisions?
• How can design-led interventions be used to promote optimal infant and toddler nutrition and reduce the inappropriate marketing of solid foods as required by WHO Regional Office for Europe?

TBC