Are Chilean food regulations changing food perceptions, norms and behaviors?

18 Feb 2019 --- A study conducted jointly by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health, Diego Portales University and the University of Chile has investigated how Chilean mothers understood and perceived the benefits of the country’s new policies aimed at combating childhood obesity and found that their awareness influenced their spending habits.

In Chile, high body mass index (BMI) and diet-related risk factors are the country's leading causes of death, and one-quarter of schoolchildren and one-third of the adult population are obese. In 2016, the Chilean government adopted comprehensive food regulation policies through a three-pronged approach of front-of-package labeling, marketing restrictions and school regulations, to achieve better health outcomes.

The policies stated that foods high in added sugar, saturated fats, calories and added sodium must display a black stop sign on the package. They cannot be sold or promoted in schools, advertised in child-targeted media or include marketing strategies that appeal to children such as the use of characters, toys or celebrities.

Lindsey Smith Taillie, Assistant Professor of Nutrition at the UNC Gillings School, is a co-author of the paper, published in the February edition of the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.

The team examined the impact of the regulation by focusing upon Chilean mothers’ perceptions of the policies and the influences on their purchasing habits.

In Chile, mothers are primarily responsible for food purchase decisions and serve as gatekeepers for food availability in the household. In 2017, one year after the announcement of the regulations, the team conducted nine qualitative focus groups in the Chilean capital Santiago, (where one-third of the countries’ population lives) each with seven to 10 mothers of children aged two to 14 years. 

This study will also be followed by evaluations of households’ food purchases and changes in food marketing, according to the researchers.

The study findings, which were overwhelmingly positive, were divided into three categories – front of packaging, regulation in schools and marketing strategies. All mothers in the focus groups understood the new front-of-package regulations were instituted to combat childhood obesity and they recognized that products with the most labels were less healthful choices.

Additionally, mothers reported that the schools’ switch to more healthful meals did not impact their teens as much as it did their younger children, but they did perceive that the school environment was more healthful than before. Mothers also found the industry’s inclusion of its own additional labels on packaging confusing.

“This study showed the importance of tackling obesity with a set of different strategies because we found that they reinforced each other,” notes the study's lead author, Teresa Correa, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the School of Communication at Diego Portales University. 

“Many mothers perceived a cultural change toward healthier eating because they received messages from the mass media and schools. Also, they described that their children requested healthier food and used the stop signs as shortcuts to distinguish healthy from unhealthy food choices. As a result, many mothers said that they had changed the foods they purchase for their children,” she explains. 

“Chile's law on labeling and marketing was the first of its kind anywhere in the world,” Taillie says. “Many countries are following Chile's lead and have introduced similar front-of-package warning labels on unhealthy foods and drinks. This study shows that regulations change how mothers think about and purchase food for their children. Perhaps more importantly, children are key drivers in changing social norms and behaviors after the law.”

Barry Popkin, W.R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Nutrition at the UNC Gillings School and senior investigator for the overall Chilean food law evaluation project, also noted the global impact of research. “This study, and others that might follow, suggest that this cluster of regulations represents the first potential set of policies that may change food norms and tackle the poor-quality diets that increasingly affect children globally,” he concludes.

In 2017, NutritionInsight, FoodIngredientsFirsts’ sister website, reported that obesity was on the rise throughout Latin America and the Caribbean and is particularly prevalent among women and children, following a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

The Panorama of Food and Nutrition Security in Latin America and the Caribbean report, noted that close to 360 million people – around 58 percent of the inhabitants of the region – are overweight with the highest rates observed in the Bahamas (69 percent), Mexico (64 percent) and Chile (63 percent).