Health Halo Effect On Child Leads to Obesity.

Researchers said parents who were trying to find healthy fare were being confused by labels which portrayed foods as nutritious when they were loaded with sugar or salt.

Calling for stricter regulation of labelling and marketing, researchers warned that such claims created a “health halo” distracting parents from the fact many such snacks were full of sugar.

They warned that the heavy use of cartoon characters, designed to appeal to children, and misleading health claims aimed at parents, is fuelling Britain’s obesity crisis.