Advertising of food to children: is brand logo recognition related to their food knowledge, eating behaviours and food preferences?
BACKGROUND
There remains controversy about the contribution of food advertising targeted at children to the epidemic of childhood obesity in the UK. The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between the ability to recognize brand logos featured in promotional campaigns of the food industry and eating behaviours, food knowledge and preferences in children aged 9-11 attending six primary schools in Birmingham, West Midlands.


METHODS
A '20 flashcard' brand logo quiz assessed children's brand logo recognition ability; a self-completed questionnaire collected information on children's socio-demographic characteristics, eating behaviours, food knowledge and preferences (n=476).


RESULTS
Children demonstrated both high brand logo recognition abilities with 88.4% (420/476) recognizing at least 16/20 brand logos in the quiz and high levels of poor diet. No strong correlation was found between higher brand logo recognition ability and poorer eating behaviours, food knowledge and preferences.


CONCLUSIONS
Although many children are familiar with commonly presented logos of food products, brand awareness does not appear to be a major influence on the consumption of a poor diet amongst children. The regulation or restriction of food advertising to children is unlikely to have a significant impact on obesity rates among children unless combined with measures to address other detrimental influences.
Kopelman
C A
CA
Birmingham University Medical School, University of Birmingham, Department of Primary Care and General Practice, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.
Roberts
L M
LM
Adab
P
P
D000329:Advertising; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004739:England; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D019649:Food Industry; D005518:Food Preferences; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009275:Names; D009765:Obesity