Food Messaging to Children and Adolescents – What Works?

• Project start date: 1 February 2023
• Project status: Completed
• Project type: Nutrition
• Discipline: Food skills
• Author/s: Dr Anne Moorhead, Ulster University
• Collaborator/s: Dr Amanda McCloat, Dr Elaine Mooney - St. Angela’s College Sligo.

Research objective

The aim of this research project is to identify effective food message strategies for children and adolescents on the island of Ireland in order to support stakeholders, including Safefood, in developing more effective programmes, interventions, and campaigns, with age- and developmentally-appropriate food messaging, which will result in real behaviour change. It will also allow Safefood to advise organisations in scaling up of best practices and strategies to address the food literacy needs of the children and young people on the island of Ireland.

Outputs

Research report

• Title: Publication pending
• Date: 13 November 2025
• Summary: Food messaging means talking about or sharing information about food, such as what we eat, how we eat, and what's in our food, to help people improve healthier eating. This research identified effective strategies for food messaging for children and adolescents across Ireland and Northern. Using mixed methods, it explored children’s perceptions, stakeholder insights, and best practices. Findings show that interactive, age-specific, and positive food messages – reinforced by schools, families, and communities – are most effective. The study concludes that successful food messaging requires multi-setting, consistent, engaging campaigns co-created with young people and informed by social, economic, and cultural contexts.
• Findings: The study revealed that children and adolescents on the island of Ireland are exposed to abundant but inconsistent food messaging. Despite awareness of healthy eating guidance, there is often a disconnect between knowledge and practice. Children associated effective messages with fun, practical experiences such as cooking, tasting, and gardening. Adolescents valued independence-focused, confidence-building messages, while all participants identified social media as a major source of both influence and confusion regarding healthy eating.

  Stakeholders, including teachers, parents, and club leaders, highlighted key barriers such as affordability, time constraints, and competing digital marketing. They found that age-tailored, relatable, and repetitive messages had the greatest impact, especially those connected to hobbies or sports. Fear-based or prescriptive messages were largely ineffective. Teachers favored sensory-based learning for younger students and critical-thinking activities for older ones. Parents stressed family-based routines and practical food education, while camp leaders emphasised peer modeling and engagement during group activities.

  Overall, the research concluded that food messaging works best when it uses multicomponent strategies, combining education, experiential learning, and supportive environments, to help children and adolescents translate knowledge into healthy choices. Social media, peer influence, and structured institutional support play essential roles in shaping effective and sustainable food behaviors across different contexts.

• Recommendations:

  Communication of recommended food messages by age groups:

  • 2-3 years: Simple, positive, playful messages (e.g., "Carrots help you see like a superhero!"); channels: family, friends, peers, TV ads, streaming.
  • 4-6 years: Story and character-driven messages (e.g., "Broccoli gives you the strength of a brave explorer!"); same channels.
  • 7-9 years: Link food to favourite activities (e.g., "Milk helps you build strong bones for your favourite activities."); same channels.
  • 10-12 years: Emphasise mood, energy, performance benefits; channels include family, friends, social media, advertising.
  • 13-15 years: Focus on independence, confidence, personal health goals; channels: friends, social media (TikTok, YouTube), influencers.
  • 16-18 years: Provide facts and encourage critical thinking; same channels as above.

  Campaign and messaging design:

  • Co-create campaigns with diverse representation including marginalized and socio-economic groups.
  • Use multicomponent campaigns with supporting structures like policy and environmental change.
  • Include experiential learning such as tasting, cooking, gardening.
  • Target specific dietary goals within broader campaigns.
  • Ensure campaign deliverers have adequate training and support.

  Effective food messaging strategies:

  • Clear, memorable, achievable messages using gain-framed (positive) approaches.
  • Tailor messages to be relevant and interesting to the target audience.
  • Consistently repeat messages across multiple sources/channels.
  • Reinforce messages through role models including parents and leaders.
  • Use practical examples and demonstrations.
  • Consider peer modelling carefully with accurate message dissemination.

  Implementation considerations:

  • Acknowledge food environment and social media influences.
  • Address taste barriers and selective eating.
  • Recognise financial and resource barriers affecting success.

  Guidance for stakeholders:

  • Schools: reinforce messages through policies, access to healthy food, consistent curriculum messaging, role modelling.
  • Parents: engage families with schools, encourage new tastes, support positive education rather than restrictions, involve children in food preparation, maintain structured mealtimes.
  • Clubs and camps: ensure training for staff, review supplement discussions, reinforce healthy messages. Scientific advice to inform future approaches to co-creation and design of interventions for children and adolescents
  • Use a rights-based approach involving children and adolescents in nutrition policy and campaign design respecting their voices.
  • Campaigns should be age-appropriate, context-specific, and place-focused.

Similar research

• Exploring the world of food - the perspective of families with children (2019)
• What's on offer? Food for our kids in social spaces (2018)
• Investigation into the balance of healthy versus less-healthy food promotions among Republic of Ireland (2016)
• Do nutrient and health claims have an impact on the perceived healthiness and the amount of foods/meals consumed? (2016)
• Food Marketing and the preschool child (2011)