Introduction

To determine whether there is a relationship between the nutritional content and the number of promotional techniques used in industrialized food packaging for children, available in markets and supermarkets, in Lima, Peru.

Material and Methods

Cross-sectional study using a non probabilistic sampling. Industrialized food (non-alcoholic beverages, baking products, cereals, candies and snacks) were collected, from three supermarkets and two markets in Lima (Peru), between May and June 2016. The nutritional content was classified based on the traffic light system of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The promotional techniques were assessed based on the systems of Consumers International. Linear and Poisson regression models were used to evaluate the associations of interest.

Results

A total of 346 products were included: 113 (32.7%) candies, 92 (26.6%) baking products, 54 (15.6%) non-alcoholic beverages, 52 (15.0%) cereals, and 35 (10.1%) snacks. From 335 products with information available, 96.7% were classified as unhealthy. These products utilized, on average, 2.9 (SD: 1.2) promotional techniques. The use of bold graphics (p<0.001) and images (p=0.01) were associated with the nutritional content. The higher the number of promotional techniques, the higher the probability of being an unhealthy product (RP=1.02; IC95%: 1.01-1.04). A positive linear relationship between the number of promotional techniques and the calorie levels (β=30.6; 95%CI: 14.9-46.3; p<0.001), sodium (β=36.3; 95%CI: 16.2-56.3; p<0.001) and carbohydrates (β=8.5; 95%CI: 6.3-10.6; p<0.001) was found.

Conclusions

There was a relationship between the nutritional content and the promotional techniques presented in the packages of industrialized products aimed at children.

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