1. Children’s Eating Habits
Are kids getting healthier?
November 2009

2. Issues in the Market
The role of children and their parents when it comes to making purchasing decisions for food and drinks.
The place of healthy snacks and meals in children’s diets and children’s attitudes towards them.
The opportunities for advertising to children and families when it comes to HFSS foods.
The place of teenagers in the market and their preferences compared with younger children.
The influence of government and health bodies’ measures to tackle childhood obesity on the sector and on children’s diets.

3. Internal & Broader Market Environment
Parents tend to let children have a say when it comes to choosing what goes in the shopping trolley.
Children appear to be making efforts to have healthier diets, with girls and ABs in particular avoiding sweets, although in practice, confectionery remains a favourite with most kids.
Parents attitudes are rubbing off on their children when it comes to artificial additives, as nearly four in ten year-olds avoid these.
The younger age groups (children aged 5-9) are forecast to grow at a faster rate than the older age groups (children aged and 15-19) between 2009 and 2014.
The childhood obesity epidemic has led to a range of measures being taken to tackle it, including banning television adverts for children of foods high in fat, salt and sugar, as well as the much publicised overhaul of school dinners.

4. Strengths & Weaknesses in the Market
Older girls have more buying power and independence than boys, signalling opportunities in the teenage girls market in the future.
Companies have made efforts in NPD to introduce products that have fewer additives or preservatives and are healthier, fitting in with parents’ desire for more natural, healthy foods for their kids.
Responding to the demand for more lunchbox ‘appropriate’ foods, more NPD has focused on on-the-go products or those that fit lunchboxes criteria.
Although meals remain the domain of parents, snacks and treats are where children have the most influence when it comes to choosing brands.
For HFSS food and drink manufacturers, there are advertising restrictions which stop them from targeting children directly and they could become more stringent in the future, perhaps even encompassing other media.
The younger age groups (under 10s) are expected to show the highest rate of growth. These are age groups where parents make most of the decisions when it comes to buying food and drink for their children.
The teenage market is often forgotten by manufacturers, with many teens leaving behind their favourite childhood foods as they get older.

5. Who’s Innovating?
Food and drink manufacturers are making efforts to provide children with healthier products, with more being low in sugar or having functional health benefits for example.
Avoiding additives and preservatives is also important, with six in ten new launches featuring this positioning.
More companies have also highlighted products as being ideal for on-the-go consumption, providing parents with lunchbox solutions.

6. Pocket Money
Savings are increasingly important across all age groups, with year-olds saving the largest amounts.
Spending on food is diminishing for 7-10-year-olds, whereas for year-olds, the high spenders are stable, but those who spend nothing are increasing.
For year-olds, pocket money spend is diminishing on drinks and food other than crisps/sweets/chocolate.

7. Pester Power – Who Decides Which Food Brands to Buy?
Parents are particularly influential in terms of brand choice for fruit juices and fizzy drinks, although as they get older, teenagers like to choose their own fizzy drinks.
Children and teenagers have the most input on brand choice when it comes to snacks and treats, whereas meals remain the domain of parents.
Older girls have more influence than boys when it comes to snacks such as cereal bars or yogurt, suggesting potential marketing opportunities.
Food and drink brands decided by parents, by children age groups, 2009
Base: Youths aged 11-14, 15-19
Taken from the youth TGI survey of around 10,000 youths aged 7-19
Source: Youth TGI 2009 Autumn/Mintel

8. Snacking and Eating On-the-Go
Making products more portable is the key for growing share of the snacking on-the-move market, which many children are doing these days, particularly in Greater London.
The most popular snacks for all age groups remain confectionery and crisps, with biscuits and fruit also making appearances in the top five.
As teenagers get older, some snacks (such as cereal bars, cheese snacks and vegetables) lose popularity, while others (such as sandwiches/rolls/baguettes) become more popular.
Snacking on-the-move with fruit juice, bottled water, chewing gum, crisps and ice cream bars, based on region, 2009
Base: Youths aged 7-10
Taken from the youth TGI survey of around 10,000 youths aged 7-19
Source: Youth TGI Autumn/Mintel

9. Sit-Down Meals
Cereals and toast remain breakfast staples, although cereals lose some popularity as teenagers get older.
Yogurt is another popular product that loses its shine as teenagers get older, mainly because few brands overtly target the teenage market, being instead focused on children and families.
Socio-economic groups tend to play a role when it comes to choosing foods for lunch and dinner.
Teenagers eating yogurt/ fromage frais for lunch, 2009
Base: Youths aged and 15-19
Taken from the youth TGI survey of around 10,000 youths aged 7-19
Source: Youth TGI Autumn/Mintel

10. The Consumer - Usage
Younger children are increasingly buying confectionery for themselves, especially when on-the-go, as these have been banned from their school dinners and lunchboxes.
Cereal bars are becoming more popular with teenagers, although it is generally the parents who are purchasing these for them.
15-19-year-olds are making efforts to include more “healthy” foods in their diet, although these remain occasional occurrences with few having them on a frequent basis.
Food/snack and drink items purchased by teenagers themselves, by gender, 2009
Base: Youths aged 15-19
Taken from the youth TGI survey of around 10,000 youths aged 7-19
Source: Youth TGI Autumn/Mintel

11. Children’s Attitudes Towards Health and Food
Children can tell the difference between healthy and non-healthy dishes, but are not overly keen on healthy foods such as porridge and vegetable soup.
Vegetarian food remains a mystery for many children, but offers opportunities for companies to provide kids with fun, yet healthy meals that will also please parents.
The internet offers strong possibilities when it comes to marketing to children, as no less than three in ten 8-16-year-olds try food or drinks after seeing it online.
Children who find porridge, fruit smoothies, vegetable soup and nuts healthy vs those who eat it as well, September 2009
Base: 611 children aged 8-16 who use the internet
Source: Fly Research/Mintel