They want to stick images of rotten teeth on cola bottles
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Putting cigarette-style warnings on sugary drinks could help fight childhood obesity, experts say.
A group of American researchers showed nearly 1,000 parents pictures of sugary drinks with labels that said or displayed health risk warnings. The images either showed how much sugar is in each drink, such as teaspoons, or the physical consequences of excessive consumption, such as tooth decay, weight gain and kidney disease.
The scientists asked parents to choose a drink for their child, giving them the freedom to choose. Purchases of drinks containing sugar were a tenth lower when they saw various warnings. Respondents said they were disturbed and disgusted by such notifications. In the UK alone, four out of ten children and more than half of adults are overweight or obese. The situation, say, in the USA is almost identical.
Researchers at Harvard University interviewed 961 parents who had children between the ages of 6 and 11. The parents were divided into four groups, with various warnings on the labels of sugary drinks. The first group, the control group, saw many drinks with a standard calorie label similar to those already in use. The second is a written warning about the sugar content of each drink. The drinks seen by the third group were labeled with “pictorial sugar warnings”—cubes, teaspoons, or sachets of sugar—to visually show how much sugar each drink contained. Participants in the final study were shown drinks with “pictorial health warnings”. They included photos of feet on the scale, decaying teeth, or people undergoing dialysis to show the possible risks of drinking too many sugary drinks. They also included text warnings. The results showed that picture alerts were the most effective.
Parents also reported experiencing anxiety, fear, guilt, and disgust in response to the picture warnings—emotions that researchers believe trigger behavioral change.
Dr Linda Greenwall told MailOnline: “With emergency tooth extractions currently the most common reason for children to be hospitalized in England, with around 78 cases per day, we need stronger action.”
Eating too much sugar can lead to weight gain, which increases your risk of heart disease, certain types of cancer, and type 2 diabetes over time. Sugar can also cause cavities.
Christina DENISYUK.
Photo: Khristina Denisyuk
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