Abstract

The prevalence of obesity and overweight in children and adolescents during the last decades has reached the epidemic level in both developed and in developing countries. Besides the genetic aspects, which represent one of the motivating factors in the progress of obesity, the shift in the energetic balance also plays a significant role in the development of obesity. TV viewing and the high-calorie snack foods consumption have come under more scrutiny as potential causes of increased obesity in children and adolescents. The aim of the present work was to develop an instrument that allows to estimate the Chilean children's brand awareness. We developed the IBAI (International Brand Awareness Instrument), an age-appropriate instrument that uses twelve sheets with pictures of food logos to test children's recall and recognition. The IBAI was presented to a sample of 80 children aged from 3 to 10 years, enrolled in the city of Santiago de Chile. The instrument allowed distinguishing different kinds of children's brand awareness. Considering the total score reached by each child, the majority of the children for both genders showed a medium-low brand awareness (32.5%) followed by medium-high brand awareness (31.3%), high brand awareness (23.8%) and low brand awareness (12.5%). Although the study confirmed the moderate brand logo recognition in the children tested, it did not demonstrate a close relationship between this and the children's reported eating behaviors, food knowledge and preferences. © Vecchio et al.