Oral Presentation Australian and New Zealand Obesity Society Annual Scientific Conference 2024

Parent and child choice of sugary drinks under four labelling conditions (#79)

Zenobia Talati 1 2 , Helen G Dixon 3 4 , Gael Myers 5 , Caroline Miller 6 7 , Liyuwork Mitiku Dana 1 , Thomas McAlpine 1 8 , Katlyn Mackenzie 1 8 , Jessica Charlesworth 1 8 , Barbara A Mullan 1 8 , Ainslie Sartori 9 , Moira O'Connor 1
  1. School of Population Health, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia
  2. Telethon Kids Institute, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia
  3. Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer, Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
  4. Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences., The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
  5. Cancer Council Western Australia, Subiaco, Western Australia, Australia
  6. South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
  7. School of Public Health, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
  8. enAble Institute, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia
  9. Cancer Council Western Australia, Subiaco, Western Australia, Australia

A significant proportion of Australian children exceed the World Health Organization’s recommended dietary intake of free sugar, particularly through consumption of sugar sweetened beverages. Front-of-pack nutrition labels have been shown to increase perceived risk and deter consumption of sugar sweetened beverages. However, when it comes to young children, past studies in this area have focussed almost exclusively on a parent’s choice of beverage for children. This study investigated the influence of four different label designs (text-based health warning, tooth decay pictorial, teaspoons of sugar, Health Star Rating) on the beverage choices of N = 1,229 Australian children (aged 4-11 years) and their parents. In an online vending machine scenario, parent-child dyads were separately asked to select which beverage they would choose for themselves before and after being randomised to one label condition. Beverages displayed included 100% fruit juice, soft drink, artificially flavoured soft drink, flavoured milk, plain milk and bottled water. Healthiness of beverage choice was determined by a 1 – 10 ranking based on review by a panel of experts (10 dietitians and nutritionists). ANOVAs assessed whether labels led to a significant change (p < 0.05) in healthiness of beverage choice. While most participants did not change their choice of beverage following exposure to a label, 15.3% of parents and 17.9% of children chose a healthier option following label exposure. For parents, all label designs performed comparably; however, for children, small but significant differences between label designs revealed that the teaspoons of sugar label, the text-based label, and the tooth decay pictorial label were all more impactful in promoting healthier drink choices compared to the Health Star Rating. These findings can inform public health advocacy efforts to improve food labelling in Australia and could be incorporated into educational resources to help children understand nutritional profiles of different sugary drinks.

  1. World Health Organization. Guideline: Sugars Intake for Adults and Children. Geneva; 2015. https://www.who.int/publications-detail/9789241549028. Accessed May 19, 2020.
  2. Lei L, Rangan A, Flood VM, Louie JCY. Dietary intake and food sources of added sugar in the Australian population. British Journal of Nutrition. 2016;115(5):868-877. doi:10.1017/S0007114515005255.