Restaurant marketing to children may be associated with consumption. We examined whether and to what extent reported frequency of restaurant advertisements exposure was associated with consumption and money spent at all types of restaurants among children living in Canada. We also describe what children and youth report as appealing restaurant marketing techniques.

This study reports findings from a cross-sectional, online survey. The survey covered reported exposure to restaurant marketing, restaurant product consumption, money spent at restaurants and appealing features of restaurant advertisements. Descriptive statistics and adjusted and unadjusted linear and logistic regressions were constructed.

Canadian provinces

1500 children and youth aged 9–17 years.

A third (32 %) of participants reported restaurant advertisement exposure at least once per day. Overall, 43 % of participants consumed restaurant products more than twice per week, 61 % spent at least some money at a restaurant in the last 7 d, and of those who spent money, the mean expenditure in the last week was $20·70. Frequency of advertisement exposure was significantly associated with all outcomes. Several significant differences in outcomes emerged by region, age and race/ethnicity. Pictures were the most appealing marketing technique among both age groups; however, youth (aged 13–17 years) seemed to prioritise price and price promotions, while children (aged 9–12 years) prioritised toys, humour and winning prizes.

A large proportion of Canadian children and youth consumed restaurant offerings more than twice a week. Reported restaurant advertising exposure was significantly positively associated with restaurant consumption frequency and money spent at restaurants.

Explore adolescents’ recall of food and beverage advertisements in digital media, while evaluating associations between socio-demographic characteristics and advertisement recall.

Recruitment took place using a two-stage cluster probability-based sampling approach. Thirty-nine high schools stratified by type (public v. private) were included, with one class within each grade randomly selected, wherein attending students (n 1542; age range: 11–19 years) received a paper-and-pencil questionnaire for completion in their homes. Participants indicated their spontaneous recall of food and beverage advertisements on social media and provided socio-demographic information. Individual responses to an open-ended question were graphically represented using a world cloud, after which the data were analysed through content analysis based on inductive coding.

The study was conducted in Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay, which is a high-income South American country with a high prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents.

A total of 1542 adolescents attending public and private high schools participated.

Almost nine of ten adolescents (87·6 %) reported having seen a food or beverage advertisement on digital media and more than three of four (76·1 %) could spontaneously recall at least one such advertisement. The three most frequently used words for spontaneous recall were ‘McDonalds’, ‘Coke’ and ‘burgers’, whereas the three most frequently mentioned product categories were ‘Fast-food and fast-food restaurants’, ‘soft drinks’ and ‘savoury snacks’. Some socio-demographic differences emerged.

The findings stress the need to implement mandatory regulatory approaches to reduce adolescent exposure to digital marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages.

Despite growing front-of-pack labelling (FOPL) policy implementation in low-and middle-income countries (LMIC), research approaches for evaluating these policies remain poorly characterized, hindering evidence-based policy development and methodological gaps. This study explored research approaches, frameworks, and methods used in assessing FOPL policy implementation and response in LMIC.

Systematic search of five databases, including Medline, Web of Science, Scopus, Global Health, and CINAHL, for peer-reviewed articles published between 2014–2025. Studies on FOPL policy implementation or response in LMIC were included. Data on study characteristics, methods, and findings were extracted and synthesized.

LMIC.

All populations.

Thirty-one studies revealed significant research imbalances. Implementation studies (n 3) used qualitative approaches with policy theories, while response studies (n 28) predominantly employed quantitative methods including surveys, experiments, and modeling. Pronounced geographical bias emerged, with 24 studies conducted in Latin America while other LMIC regions remained underrepresented. Common limitations included non-representative sampling, self-reported data, and short timeframes. Mandatory FOPL policies achieved higher compliance than voluntary schemes, though implementation faced challenges including inadequate monitoring, limited resources, and industry resistance. Consumer awareness was generally high but varied significantly across population groups, revealing substantial equity gaps.

This review reveals critical gaps in FOPL implementation research in LMIC, with evidence heavily skewed toward consumer responses and geographically concentrated in Latin America. Future research should prioritize implementation science approaches, geographical diversity, and understanding policy processes in resource-constrained settings to develop effective, context-appropriate FOPL policies.

Canadian front-of-package (FOP) labelling regulations aim to improve dietary patterns by identifying foods high in sodium, sugars and/or saturated fat with a ‘high in’ FOP nutrition symbol. However, child-appealing marketing on product packaging may undermine these efforts. Therefore, this study (1) compared the prevalence of FOP symbols between products with child-appealing and non-child appealing packaging in the Canadian food supply and (2) identified the number and types of FOP symbols on products with child-appealing packaging (CAP).

Using the University of Toronto’s Food Label Information and Price 2017 database, 5850 packaged foods were analysed, 746 of which had CAP. Products were assessed against FOP labelling regulations.

Large grocery retailers by market share in Canada.

Foods and beverages available in 2017. Results: 74·4 % of products with CAP would require a ‘high in’ FOP symbol, significantly higher than the 65·7 % of products with non-CAP. Notably, 54·4 % of products with CAP exceeded FOP labelling thresholds for sugars compared with 37·8 % of products with non-CAP.

Findings highlight a policy gap in Canadian nutrition regulations, as CAP remains a major source of marketing of unhealthy foods to children, undermining the impact of FOP labelling. To address this, food packaging should be included in Canada’s marketing restrictions, and products displaying a ‘high in’ FOP symbol should be automatically restricted from marketing to children. This study underscores the urgent need to harmonise Canadian nutrition regulations to synergistically promote healthier food choices among children and improve their health.

This study assessed the suitability of nutritional composition data from a commercial dataset for policy evaluation in Brazil.

We compared the proportions of packaged foods and beverages, classified according to the Nova food classification and the nutritional composition of matched products using data from a commercial database of food labels (Mintel-Global New Products Database (GNPD)) and the Brazilian Food Labels Database (BFLD), collected in 2017 as a ‘gold standard.’ We evaluated the agreement between the two datasets using paired t tests, Wilcoxon–Mann-Whitney test and the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) for energy, carbohydrates, total sugars, proteins, total fats, saturated fats, trans-fats, sodium and fiber.

Brazil.

Totally, 11 434 packaged foods and beverages collected in 2017 provided by BFLD and 67 042 packaged foods and beverages launched from 2001 to 2017 provided by Mintel-GNPD.

The proportions of ultra-processed foods (UPF) were similar in both datasets. Paired products exhibited an excellent correlation (ICC > 0·80), with no statistically significant difference in the mean values (P ≥ 0·05) of most nutrients analysed. Discrepancies in fibre and fat content were noted in some UPF subcategories, including sweet biscuits, ice cream, candies, dairy beverages, sauces and condiments.

The Mintel-GNPD dataset closely aligns with the BFLD in UPF distribution and shows a similar nutritional composition to a sample of matched foods available for purchase in stores, indicating its potential contribution to monitoring and evaluating food labelling policies in Brazil and in studies of food and beverages composition in food retail through the verification of policy compliance.