Soo J, Letona P, Chacon V, Barnoya J, Roberto C A
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Cardiovascular Unit of Guatemala, Guatemala, Guatemala.
Int J Obes (Lond). 2016 Jan;40(1):39-44. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2015.161. Epub 2015 Aug 21.
Food marketing has been implicated as an important driver of obesity. However, few studies have examined food marketing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study documents the prevalence of advertising on cereal boxes in Guatemala and examines associations between various marketing strategies and nutritional quality.
One box from all available cereals was purchased from a supermarket located in an urban area in Guatemala City, Guatemala. A content analysis was performed to document child-oriented marketing practices, product claims and health-evoking images. The Nutrient Profile Model (NPM) was used to calculate an overall nutrition score for each cereal (the higher the score, the lower the nutritional quality).
In all, 106 cereals were purchased, and half of the cereals featured child-oriented marketing (54, 50.9%). Cereals had a mean (±s.d.) of 5.10±2.83 product claims per cereal, and most cereals (102, 96.2%) contained health-evoking images. Child-oriented cereals had, on average, higher NPM scores (13.0±0.55 versus 7.90±0.74, P<0.001) and sugar content (10.1±0.48 versus 6.19±0.50 g/30 g, P<0.001) compared with non-child oriented cereals. Cereals with health claims were not significantly healthier than those without claims.
In Guatemala, cereals targeting children were generally of poor nutritional quality. Cereals displaying health claims were also not healthier than those without such claims. Our findings support the need for regulations restricting the use of child-oriented marketing and health claims for certain products.
食品营销被认为是肥胖的一个重要驱动因素。然而，很少有研究考察低收入和中等收入国家（LMICs）的食品营销情况。本研究记录了危地马拉谷物包装盒上广告的流行情况，并考察了各种营销策略与营养质量之间的关联。
从危地马拉城一个市区的超市购买了所有在售谷物中的一盒。进行了内容分析，以记录面向儿童的营销做法、产品宣称和唤起健康意识的图片。使用营养成分模型（NPM）计算每种谷物的总体营养得分（得分越高，营养质量越低）。
总共购买了106种谷物，其中一半的谷物有面向儿童的营销（54种，50.9%）。每种谷物平均有5.10±2.83条产品宣称，大多数谷物（102种，96.2%）包含唤起健康意识的图片。与非面向儿童的谷物相比，面向儿童的谷物平均NPM得分更高（13.0±0.55对7.90±0.74，P<0.001），糖分含量也更高（10.1±0.48对6.19±0.50克/30克，P<0.001）。有健康宣称的谷物并不比没有宣称的谷物明显更健康。
在危地马拉，针对儿童的谷物通常营养质量较差。展示健康宣称的谷物也不比没有此类宣称的谷物更健康。我们的研究结果支持对某些产品限制使用面向儿童营销和健康宣称进行监管的必要性。
