Pester power fails to sway savvy parents
industry advertising - is not great enough to persuade most parents
to buy potentially unhealthy food for their kids. A new survey
shows that most British parents rate nutrition as the most
important factor when it comes to buying food for their offspring,
but that there is also insufficient information about what the
healthiest foods are.
Parents are becoming increasingly concerned about what they feed to their children - so much so in fact that they are less likely than ever to be swayed by the pestering of their offspring into buying them food which might not be good for them.
A new survey by the Food Advertising Unit in the UK shows that while parents are getting much better at controlling their children's diets, this task is not made any easier by the continued lack of useful information on food labels and elsewhere.
The Family Food Survey was commissioned by the FAU, a centre for information, communication and research in the area of food advertising, and quizzed over 1500 parents via Raisingkids.co.uk, an independent website which offers parenting advice and information.
The survey revealed that 98 per cent of parents rate nutritional value as important or very important when buying food for their children, but that a substantial 41 per cent of those questioned think there is not enough information available about providing their children with a healthy diet.
The good news for the food industry is that parents are, for the most part, happy with the way food products are advertised to children. Just 14 per cent of parents agreed to let a child try a product that they asked for after seeing it advertised, strong evidence to suggest that the power of the advertisers is far weaker than that of mum and dad, who ultimately hold the purse strings.
Furthermore, 87 per cent of those questioned said they did not believe that food advertising should be banned, while a further 96 per cent said they believed that it was up to parents to explain to children that they can not have everything they see advertised.
Jeremy Preston, director of the Food Advertising Unit, said that the research appeared to confirm a number of other well-documented facts about changes in food consumption.
"We know that children are eating fewer calories than they were 10 years ago and this latest research underlines the fact that parents are doing well in terms of providing a balanced diet for their children. However, the research also shows that parents want to have more information to help them do an even better job.
"They believe that nutritional value is the most important factor and, interestingly, they also know when to say no to their children. As some suggest, restrictions on product information and advertising are not the answer. Parents don't want to live in a 'nanny' state - they want good and relevant information on helping their families live a healthy lifestyle."
He continued: "It is also good to see that despite all the talk of pester power it is parents who are in control of the family's diet. TV advertising has been around in the UK for 40 years and parents realise that, along with all other types of advertising, it has now become a way of life - it has a role to play in providing information about products and helping in deciding brand choice. However, the food and advertising industries recognise that there is an increase in children becoming overweight and strongly believe that the solutions lie in maintaining a healthy diet and, most importantly, ensuring the right level of exercise."
Sentiments echoed by the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), which represents the British food industry. "Food and drink manufacturers take a very responsible view of advertising, particularly of products aimed at children. This survey confirms the industry's belief that Britain's parents are more sophisticated than some give them credit for. Advertising to children is a strongly regulated area, and this regulation is clearly working," said Martin Paterson, deputy director general of the FDF.
"With an overwhelming 87 per cent of parents dismissing the idea of banning advertising to children, the survey backs up previous findings about parents' views. For example, in the year 2000 the Advertising Standards Authority received only 50 complaints concerning children, of which only six were upheld. Of the total complaints received by the Independent Television Commission in 1999, those concerning children accounted for less than 1 per cent and only one was upheld."
Bridging the knowledge gap
The FAU survey asked parents specific nutritional questions and received mixed responses, highlighting the positive impact of media coverage on issues like salt but reiterating where there are still gaps in current information.
When asked how much salt a child between 7 and 10 years should consume, 72 per cent of parents got the answer right saying less than 5 grams per day. In addition, 85 per cent correctly answered that the age at which you should give children semi-skimmed milk is when they are over two years old.
However, despite the fact that iron is an important nutrient for growing children, only 56 per cent knew that beef is the best source of this nutrient, while 36 per cent did not know how many calories an eight year old boy should consume each day, with only 13 per cent correctly saying it is 1750.
When asked where they get the knowledge they do have, 43 per cent said their main source of information about children's diet and nutrition was books and magazines with friends and family the next most common at 15 per cent.
Health the driving factor
The survey was also extremely revealing when it came to the motivation for buying food - especially in these days when health, convenience and simplicity are the bywords of the food industry.
Health is certainly important, since 98 per cent of those questioned said that nutritional value was the most important factor they considered when buying food for their children. Kids' own preferences are also important (91 per cent), followed by value for money (86 per cent) and price (79 per cent).
Interestingly, the fact that the food was quick and easy to prepare was considered to be important by only 60 per cent of those questioned, which shows that while adults are placing increasing importance on convenience food, this is not necessarily the case when they feed their children.
Kids are also less influenced by adverts than might be expected, the survey shows. Fifty per cent of those questioned said that prompting by other children was a key factor when asking for a specific food product, while 36 per cent said it could be a link to a TV programme and 37 per cent that an on box promotion prompts the request.
A full copy of the survey can be found on the FAU's website.
