Chile curbing children’s weight gain with food labels and marketing limits, study finds

More evidence that Chile’s sweeping food policies targeting the country’s high rates of obesity and other nutrition-related diseases are working

A new study from Chile provides the first evidence that a national, comprehensive food policy package can combat the rise in childhood obesity. Researchers found that exposure to Chile’s unique combination of mandatory front-of-package warning labels, marketing restrictions and banned presence in schools for unhealthy foods and beverages led to lower excess weight and body mass index (BMI) for young children.

Using nationwide data from over 300,000 schoolchildren aged 4–6 years, researchers from Chile and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill compared two groups of students during their time in pre-kindergarten through first grade: a control group with data from before the food policies began and a treatment group who experienced Phase 1 of the policies during those school years.

They found that children exposed to the policies were less likely to have excess weight, with the largest effects among those who spent more of their early years under the law. Girls had a 2.9% lower probably of overweight, and boys had a 2.4% lower probability. While these changes may seem modest, even small changes at a young age can have a lifelong impact on weight trajectory and obesity risk.

Key findings

Exposure to Phase 1 of Chile’s Law of Food Labeling and Advertising led to statistically significant decreases in childhood excess weight, especially for children who were exposed to the law’s policies starting at a younger age.

Children who were exposed to the policies for a longer duration (during both kindergarten and first grade — over 18 months) experienced the largest effects.

Children whose mothers had higher education and those with low birth weight experienced more pronounced effects.

Subsidized schools and urban areas observed larger effects.
- For example, girls enrolled in subsidized schools exhibited a 3.2% and 4.5% lower probability of excess weight when exposed during both kindergarten and first grade compared to unexposed control cohorts.

Prof. Guillermo Paraje

“This is the first study in the world to demonstrate positive health impacts plausibly caused by a set of complimentary food policies,” said Guillermo Paraje, professor of economics at the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez in Chile and the study’s lead author. “Our study looked at the first and most lenient phase of the law, and we expect that as regulations became stricter under Phases 2 and 3, the benefits for children’s weight could be even greater.”

Chile’s Law of Food Labeling and Advertising, in effect since 2016, ushered in an ambitious, comprehensive policy package aimed at reducing childhood obesity and other nutrition-related diseases by improving the food environment. The law requires “stop sign” warning labels on packaged foods high in sugar, sodium, saturated fat or calories; prohibits companies from marketing those products to children and bans their sale or promotion in schools. The framework remains one of the most ambitious efforts worldwide to address rising nutrition-related diseases and health care costs.

The new study builds on earlier research showing improvements in Chileans’ shopping habits and in marketing and school environments. Previous studies found reductions in sugar, saturated fat, sodium, and calories purc h ased at grocery stores; lower sugar, saturated fat and sodium intake in schools; a 73% drop in children’s exposure to television ads for regulated foods; and 67% fewer unhealthy food ads using child-directed creative content such as cartoons, characters, toys or contests. Child-directed marketing on breakfast cereal packages fell from appearing on nearly 50% of products to 15% in the first year of the law. This was all achieved without causing increases in food prices or declines in employment or wages, despite industry claims to the contrary.

Dr. Barry Popkin

“Findings across these studies affirm that Chile’s set of policies not only improve the quality of food purchases but are linked with meaningful health improvement,” said Barry Popkin, W.R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of nutrition at the UNC Gillings Global School of Public Health and founder of the Global Food Research Program at UNC-Chapel Hill. “Nine countries have adopted front-of-package warning labels after Chile, and at least four more in Africa are currently considering similar laws, but no other country has combined the labeling with marketing restrictions and school bans in quite the same way. Our new study adds to the evidence that integrating multiple policies is more effective than implementing any single policy on its own.”

This research was supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies as part of the Food Policy Program.

STUDY 1 AUTHORS

Guillermo Paraje
Nieves Valdés
Alberto Vega Macaya
Camila Corvalán
Barry Popkin