Lessons from retailers promoting health and wellbeing to children

Dr. Diogo Souza-Monteiro

Senior Lecturer in Agribusiness Management

Presentation prepared for the session: Marketing healthier options in practice

to different demographics, Food Matters Live …, 22 - 24 November 2016

ExCeL, London

Outline

• Marketing to food children • Commercial vs. social marketing

• Recent trends in childhood obesity

• What role are retailers playing?

Marketing food to children Commercial

Social marketing

Childhood obesity is back in the news!

Trend in the prevalence of obesity and excess weight Children aged 2-15 years; Health Survey for England 1995-2014

5 Patterns and trends in child obesity

Child excess weight BMI ≥ 85th centile, child obesity BMI ≥ 95th centile of the UK90 growth reference. 95% confidence intervals are displayed on the chart

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Excess weight

Obesity

Obesity prevalence by deprivation decile National Child Measurement Programme 2014/15

6 Patterns and trends in child obesity

Child obesity: BMI ≥ 95th centile of the UK90 growth reference

25.0%24.2%

22.7%21.2%

19.3%17.8%

16.0%15.0%

13.7%

11.5%12.0%11.2%

10.3% 9.7%9.0%

8.3% 7.6% 7.0% 6.8%5.7%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Mostdeprived

Leastdeprived

Ob

esit

y p

reva

len

ce

Index of Multiple Deprivation 2010 decile

Year 6

Reception

What could retailers do? • Retailers could take a number of actions:

• In store or product assortment actions • Abstaining from promoting less healthy food to children • Reformulating children’s product lines • Adhere to pledges such as the “Chuck sweets off Check out”

• Community/external engagement actions • Sponsoring education programs on healthy eating and cooking • Facilitating physical activity

• Sponsoring sports events

• Supplying sports materials to schools

• Some of these actions fit in a commercial marketing strategy whereas others are more likely social market or CSR types of actions

What retailers say they are doing? • To answer this question

we investigated the content of CSR reports • 7 leading UK grocers

• 5 years (2006-2011)

• 36 reports

• Specifically we examine the frequency of 20 keywords linked to children’s health & wellbeing

Key findings • British retailers are taking actions to mitigate

childhood obesity • But they aren’t coordinating strategies

• From what their CSR reports suggest: • A focus on promotion of physical education

• Such as the Active Kids program set up by Sainsbury's

• Sponsoring nutrition and cooking programs • Eg.: the Tesco “farm to fork” initiative

• There is little reference reformulation and store environment initiatives

Questions? Comments?

Contact information:

Diogo M. de Souza Monteiro

Phone +44 (0)191 208 6886

Email: Diogo.Souza-Monteiro@ncl.ac.uk