Marketing food products to children
This study examined the impact of food packaging targeted at children on perceptions of nutrition and appeal among mothers. Approximately 500 mothers of children aged 5 to 10 will be recruited to complete an online survey during which they will rate products in which food claims and the child-friendly design of the packages have been systematically altered to vary the type of health symbols (e.g., "Sensible Solutions") and the presence of cartoon characters. The study is conducted by Peter Sae Yang as part of her thesis research.

Nutritional labelling in hospital cafeteria
The Ottawa Hospital Food and Nutrition Services have recently implemented a nutrition information program featuring digital menu boards in the public cafeteria at their Civic campus. The menu boards display calorie, total fat, saturated fat and sodium content for main food items available for sale. A similar program will is planned for the General campus in the near future.

We are conducting a study funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada to examine the impact of the nutritional labeling initiative on consumer food behaviours. Exit surveys at the cafeteria sites with and without the nutritional labeling program will be conducted at three time points: before the implementation of nutritional information at the General campus, as well as at 6-month and 12-month follow ups. We will also analyze sales date to examine whether the menu displays influence food selection and consumption.

“Toy premiums”, offered with McDonald’s Happy Meals®, are a prominent form of food marketing directed at children. Two Californian jurisdictions recently implemented policies that only permit offering fast-food toy premiums with meals that meet certain nutritional criteria. The primary objective of the current study was to examine elements of this policy in a Canadian context and determine if children select healthier food products if toy premiums are only offered with healthier food options. The study also examined if the impact of restricting toy premiums to healthier foods varied by gender and age. A between-groups experimental study was conducted with 337 children aged 6-12 years attending day camps in Ontario, Canada. Children were offered one of four McDonald’s Happy Meals® as part of the camp lunch program: two “healthier” meals that met the nutritional criteria and two meals that did not. In the control condition, all four meals were offered with a toy premium. In the intervention condition, the toy was only offered with the two “healthier” meals. Children were significantly more likely to select the healthier meals when toys were only offered with meals that met nutritional criteria. The effect of pairing toys with healthier meals had a stronger effect on boys than girls. Overall, the findings suggest that policies that restrict toy premiums to food that meet nutritional criteria may promote healthier eating at fast-food restaurants

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