title: Food packaged with toys: an investigation on potential obesogenic effects in Indian children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate, in a large pan Indian sample of school children, whether gadgets (toys) added to food increase food consumption, and if contemporary exposure to TV and/or advertising is a further promoting factor.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1,680 Indian children were first randomized to food exposure with or without toy and then to a five-level exposure to TV viewing and advertising according to a 2 × 5 full factorial ad libitum eating design study. The sample size was computed to detect a difference of 20 Kcal of caloric intake (assuming the same standard deviation of 20 Kcal in both groups) between "food with gadget" (Toy) and "food alone" (No Toy) groups in each level of the exposure to TV and advertising factor, given an alpha error equal to 0.05 and a power of 0.90.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean caloric intake both in "Toy" and "No Toy" group was around 223 Kcal. When considering exposure to TV and advertising, mean values varied negligibly between 222 and 225 Kcal. According to linear models for the effect of gadget and exposure to TV and/or advertising on children's intake, no significant adjusted associations were found, neither as main effects nor as interactions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Food consumption by children is not influenced by the presence of added toys, even after adjustment for several potential confounding factors. The city where they live and age significantly influences Indian children's caloric intake.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Public Health, Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences, University of Padova, Via Loredan, 18, 35121, Padova, Italy, dario.gregori@unipd.it.
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gregori
authors.forename: Achal
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gulati
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hochdorn
authors.forename: Simonetta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ballali
authors.forename: Haralappa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Paramesh
authors.forename: Malathi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Ileana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Baldi
mesh_terms: D000329:Advertising; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D018857:Food Packaging; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000209:etiology*; D010988:Play and Playthings; D013690:Television