Transparent choices: communicating packaged food content to children

Abstract

Focusing on how children make food choices, this article presents research to support efforts to meet children’s information needs when it comes to food packaging. Using focus groups, the authors examine children’s perspectives on ‘most healthy’ and ‘least healthy’ packaged food. Findings reveal that children understand whole foods as ‘healthy’ foods, use the Nutrition Facts label to guide their decisions, and interpret package visuals as literal descriptions of what a food contains. These findings provide evidence-based support to improve food packaging design regulations. Finally, the authors call for transparent visual communication strategies, which aim to improve the critical thinking skills of children, and provide a foundation for informed decision-making across a lifetime.