The role of food packaging on children’s diet: insights for the design of comprehensive regulations to encourage healthier eating habits in childhood and beyond

Abstract

Food packaging design has become a key component of the marketing mix of companies to ensure the long-term success of their products, and to convey information that set apart their products from competitors. The aim of this review is to critically discuss the role of food packaging on children’s diet. Food package design plays a key role in attracting children and parents’ attention, shaping product associations, and influencing their purchase decisions. Packaging elements attracting children’s attention and misleading health-related visual and textual cues may encourage children and their parents to choose energy-dense food products with excessive content of sugar, fat, and sodium. Results from this review suggest that comprehensive packaging regulations are necessary to protect children’s health and encourage healthier eating habits from early years. Such regulations should go beyond products targeted at children, making informed decisions easier to encourage healthier choices, and including restrictions on the use of health-related cues on all products, as they ultimately influence the diet and the food available in the household.