The Pennsylvania State University the Graduate School Department
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School Department of Nutritional Sciences CHILDREN’S RESPONSE TO FOOD BRANDING AT THREE LABORATORY TEST-MEALS A Thesis in Nutritional Sciences by Wendy M. Stein Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science August 2015 The thesis of Wendy M. Stein was reviewed and approved* by the following: Kathleen L. Keller Assistant Professor of Nutritional Sciences and Food Science Thesis Advisor Barbara J. Rolls Professor of Nutritional Sciences John E. Hayes Associate Professor of Food Science Gordon Jensen Professor of Nutritional Sciences Nutritional Sciences Department Head *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School iii ABSTRACT Food marketing has been shown to influence children’s food requests, preferences, and intake. The purpose of the following studies was to test children’s responses to a form of food marketing, known as branding, at three laboratory test-meals that varied in packaging. The aims were to (1) identify familiar and well-liked food brands in a community sample of 7-10 year-old children, (2) determine the effects of food branding on 7-10 year-old children’s meal liking and (3) energy intake, and (4) identify child-level characteristics (e.g., weight status, external responses to food) that may explain variance in children’s responses to food branding in the laboratory. The primary outcomes, children’s meal liking and energy intake, were measured in three meal conditions that varied by packaging: (1) Branded: packaging with familiar food brands, e.g., Kraft®, (2) Unbranded: plain white packaging, and (3) “Kaiyo”: packaging with a novel brand and cartoon character developed by our lab. In the pilot Brand Familiarity study, the food brands selected for the Branded condition of the main fMRI Branding study were familiar and well-liked by a community sample of children. In the fMRI Branding Study, contrary to previous findings, there were no significant effects of brand condition on children’s meal liking or energy intake using mixed models analyses. Other factors, such as children’s BMI z-score, frequency of usual consumption, and fullness may be stronger predictors of food liking and energy intake in the laboratory than food branding. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ........................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ............................................................................................................................ viii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. ix Chapter 1 Literature Review .................................................................................................... 1 Childhood obesity ............................................................................................................. 1 Factors associated with the rise in childhood obesity ............................................... 1 Development of food preferences ..................................................................................... 3 Evolutionary perspective: gene-environment interaction ......................................... 3 Early flavor exposure ................................................................................................ 4 Social and environmental influences ........................................................................ 4 Food marketing and children’s eating behavior ............................................................... 5 Food branding and children’s eating behavior ......................................................... 6 Study aims ........................................................................................................................ 12 Objectives and hypotheses ................................................................................................ 13 Chapter 2 Children’s Brand Familiarity ................................................................................... 14 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 14 Developing a novel brand for 7-10 year-old children ...................................................... 14 Testing children’s brand familiarity and emotional response ........................................... 16 Participants ................................................................................................................ 16 Study design .............................................................................................................. 16 Questionnaires .......................................................................................................... 17 Child height and weight ............................................................................................ 18 Brand familiarity, emotional valence, and excitability task ..................................... 18 Data analysis ..................................................................................................................... 19 Child weight status .................................................................................................... 19 Brand familiarity, emotional valence, and excitability ............................................. 20 Results .............................................................................................................................. 20 Child demographics .................................................................................................. 21 Food brand familiarity, emotional valence, and excitability .................................... 21 Discussion ......................................................................................................................... 26 Chapter 3 Children’s Response to Food Branding at Three Laboratory Test-meals ............... 30 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 30 Methods ............................................................................................................................ 30 Participants ................................................................................................................ 30 Study design .............................................................................................................. 31 Questionnaires .......................................................................................................... 33 v Child height, weight, and percent body fat ............................................................... 36 Meal preparation ....................................................................................................... 37 Test-meal liking and preference assessment ............................................................. 38 Children’s perceived fullness .................................................................................... 39 Multi-item, ad libitum test-meals .............................................................................. 40 Data analysis ..................................................................................................................... 44 Child weight status .................................................................................................... 44 Test-meal liking ........................................................................................................ 44 Test-meal energy intake ............................................................................................ 44 Meal liking and energy intake by brand condition ................................................... 45 Child-level characteristics and children’s response to food branding ...................... 46 Results .............................................................................................................................. 47 Child demographics .................................................................................................. 47 Meal liking ratings and sum scores ........................................................................... 48 Test-meal energy intake ............................................................................................ 51 Correlations for mixed models ................................................................................. 54 Meal liking by brand condition ................................................................................. 56 Energy intake by brand condition ............................................................................. 57 Child-level characteristics and children’s response to food branding ...................... 58 Discussion ......................................................................................................................... 60 Summary of results ................................................................................................... 60 Explanations of findings ........................................................................................... 63 Strengths and limitations .......................................................................................... 65 Future directions ....................................................................................................... 67 Appendix A Brand Familiarity Study Questionnaires ............................................................