The present study aimed to assess and decompose the socio-economic inequality in unhealthy snacks consumption among adolescent students in Kerman, Iran.

The data were obtained from a cross-sectional study. Principal component analysis was done to measure the socio-economic status (SES) of the adolescents’ families and the normalized concentration index (NCI) was used to measure the inequality in unhealthy snacks consumption among adolescent students of different SES. The contributions of environmental and individual explanatory variables to inequality were assessed by decomposing the concentration index.

Forty secondary schools of Kerman Province in Iran in 2015.

Eighth-grade adolescent students (n 1320).

The data of 1242 adolescent students were completed for the current study. Unhealthy snacks consumption was unequally distributed among adolescent students and was concentrated mainly among the high-SES adolescents (NCI = 0·179; 95 % CI 0·056, 0·119). The decomposition showed that higher SES (62 %) and receiving pocket money allowance (31 %), as environmental variables, had the highest positive contributions to the measured inequality in unhealthy snacks consumption. Taste and sensory perception (7 %) as well as cost sensitivity (5 %), as individual variables, followed them in terms of their contribution importance.

It is highly suggested that both environmental and individual factors should be addressed at different settings including schools, families and suppliers of unhealthy snacks. These findings can help future health promotion strategies in Iran to tackle the observed inequality in unhealthy snacks consumption.

To analyse the food content in animated comic series addressed to young audiences both in terms of the kinds of foods presented and the cues accompanying them.

One hundred episodes of ten animated cartoon series with high television audience viewing (based on Average Minute Rating %) were reviewed and food items were classified into ten categories. In each episode, food cues (i.e. every mention of food, visual, oral or referring to foods consumed) was noted down and characterized as positive, negative or neutral. The rate of overall consumption and the food categories shown to be consumed were also recorded.

Greece.

In ninety-four episodes one or more food cues were recorded; the total number of cues was 361, of which 209 referred to cues where food was shown or discussed and 152 referred to food items consumed. Out of the positive cues measured, almost half referred to sweets and snacks (sixty-one out of 125). Nevertheless, the majority of cues were of neutral character (n 213). Snacks, sweets and soft drinks were seen to be consumed in more episodes compared with other food categories. Moreover, in episodes where a higher frequency of food consumption was recorded, then consumption of sweets, snacks and soft drinks was significantly higher, with consumption of soft drinks often occurring in conjunction with that of snacks.

Food cues are present in children’s series, with an emphasis on sweets and snacks, which are projected in an attractive way, whether depicted, discussed or consumed, between cartoon characters.

To examine associations between parenting styles, family structure and aspects of adolescent dietary behaviour.

Cross-sectional study.

Secondary schools in the East Midlands, UK.

Adolescents aged 12–16 years (n 328, 57 % boys) completed an FFQ assessing their consumption of fruit, vegetables, unhealthy snacks and breakfast. Adolescents provided information on parental and sibling status and completed a seventeen-item instrument measuring the general parenting style dimensions of involvement and strictness, from which four styles were derived: indulgent, neglectful, authoritarian, authoritative.

After controlling for adolescent gender and age, analysis of covariance revealed no significant interactions between parenting style and family structure variables for any of the dietary behaviours assessed. Significant main effects for family structure were observed only for breakfast consumption, with adolescents from dual-parent families (P < 0·01) and those with no brothers (P < 0·05) eating breakfast on more days per week than those from single-parent families and those with one or more brother, respectively. Significant main effects for parenting style were observed for all dietary behaviours apart from vegetable consumption. Adolescents who described their parents as authoritative ate more fruit per day, fewer unhealthy snacks per day, and ate breakfast on more days per week than those who described their parents as neglectful.

The positive associations between authoritative parenting style and adolescent dietary behaviour transcend family structure. Future research should be food-specific and assess the efficacy of strategies promoting the central attributes of an authoritative parenting style on the dietary behaviours of adolescents from a variety of family structures.