Correlation between childhood obesity and food labels with respect to marketing

Szűcs, Róbert Sándor

Keywords: food label, child and youth obesity, foods with high fat, salt and sugar content, consumer protection

The target audience of young people the most impressionable segment of the market. Our research shows that half of all young people hardly pay attention to healthy eating and only a third of them understand markings on food labels. The situation is aggravated by the fact that foods rich in fat, sugar and/or salt (e.g. the products of fast-food chains, coke, chips) are being popularized. There are not food labels supporting the consumer decision simply in Hungary. It is necessary to take other countries’ practice into consideration when designing the Hungarian food labeling regime, especially the food labels in the USA, as well as the concepts of the Hungarian National Heart Foundation. Not fo- focusing on this issue results in a young generation, one fifth of which is facing obesity and health problems.

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