Wellbeing not waistlines the priority for parents' food choices
There is global consensus that the top 5 benefits of healthy food to children are “A healthy heart”, “Reduced risk of disease later in life”, “Better immunity”, “Better brain development” and “Avoiding or reducing obesity”. Among the remaining 4 benefits, “Strong teeth and bones” is rated as most important.
- “A healthy heart” is rated by 31% of Britons as the most important benefit to children that can be gained by eating healthy food, followed by “Reduced risk of disease later in life” (18%), and “Better brain development” (17%).
- On a global level, “a healthy heart” is still the most important benefit, chosen by 23% of the global sample. However, “Reduced risk of disease later in life”, “Better immunity” and “Better brain development” follow closely behind, each chosen as most important by 18% of our sample.
Managing Director of Ipsos Marketing, Susan Malcolm, said:
“Parents are clearly most concerned about making sure their children are healthy on the inside – placing a higher importance on less tangible benefits such as “reduced risk of disease later in life”, which are difficult to measure and control while a child is still growing. There is a clear opportunity for brands to give parents this control, by reassuring them that they can place their trust in their food products to contribute to those crucial long term health benefits that cannot be seen or measured, as well as to the more visible benefit of maintaining a healthy body weight.”
Technical note
These are the findings from a study conducted by Ipsos Marketing, Consumer Goods via the Ipsos Global @dvisor Monthly Syndicate, an online survey of citizens around the world. Interviews were carried out between February 2nd and June 13th, 2011. For this survey an international sample of 18,680 adults aged 16 – 64 were interviewed in a total of 24 countries. Among the total sample, we identified 6,654 parents with children under the age of 18.
