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What is the perception of Nutri-Score by teenagers? A Public Health survey confirms that they have a good knowledge and perception of this logo. Which is encouraging because they are both buyers of food products but also prescribers to their parents.
The Nutri-Score is a label that helps consumers better guide their food choices, by giving a grade from A to E to food products, according to their nutritional value. In February 2021, 7 European countries – including France – committed to facilitating the use of Nutri-Score. Since its adoption, it has been used by more than 700 French companies.
What is the perception of teenagers on the Nutriscore?
To know the ratio of young people to the Nutri-Score, Public Health France questioned 1,201 young people aged 11 to 17 living in metropolitan France about Nutri-Score, in October 2021. Here are the results of the first study evaluating the representations and use of Nutri-Score by adolescents.
A questionnaire was offered to them on the Internet. The latter partly took up questions asked in surveys of adults, but also included specific questions, in particular in order to measure the prescribing power of young people vis-à-vis their parents.
Awareness and usefulness of the Nutri-Score
According to the study, 97% of teenagers surveyed have already seen or heard of Nutri-Score. 7 out of 10 teenagers have already bought a product with the Nutri-Score.
Many of them are also aware of its interest and usefulness since two thirds spontaneously indicated that it provided information on the composition and nutritional quality of a product. Their perception, knowledge and use of the logo are therefore very good.
54% of teenagers who have already bought a product with the Nutri-Score have also been encouraged to buy this product because of the presence of the logo on the packaging. 47% of them are more attracted by a product with the Nutri-Score, rather than one without a logo. They are also the same number to be likely to change product to choose one with a better Nutri Score.
For young people, the Nutri-Score is an accessible tool. 96% think the logo is easy to spot and 91% consider it easy to understand.
NO to diets, YES to WW!
Teenagers influence their parents’ choices
The positive perception that adolescents have of the Nutri-Score can therefore have an impact on the purchasing behavior of their parents, and consequently their food choices. 94% of them ask their parents at least once in a while to buy a particular food or drink. Hence the importance of their ability to understand this tool.
For Public Health Franceadolescents act both as prescribers and buyers of food products, “which makes it a target of interest for nutritional prevention actions”.
The Nutri-Score also plays a role in their parents’ decision whether or not to buy a requested product. The higher the Nutri-Score, the more parents will agree to buy it for their child. 61% of teenagers surveyed said that their parents had already agreed to buy them a product because it had a Nutri Score A or B.
Please note: among the criteria likely to influence the act of purchase by adolescents, nutritional quality nevertheless remains secondary. Only 17% said it was important. “It therefore seems essential to improve their ability to take this information into account by making it more accessible”concluded Public Health France.
According to Public Health France, “Their perception, knowledge and use of the logo is also very good, which is encouraging for the deployment of the logo in collective and commercial catering“.