Snack preferences among school-aged children: evidence from discrete choice experiments

Accelerated economic development and innovative food industry trends have contributed to worsening dietary imbalanced among Chinese school-aged population. To investigate snack preferences among school-aged children, determine the relative importance of different snack attributes, and explore how these preferences vary by social-demographic characteristics to inform targeted nutritional interventions. A stratified cluster random sampling strategy was employed to recruit 854 school-aged children (grades 7 and 8) from Hubei and Anhui provinces. An evaluation framework comprising six attributes (taste, nutrient claims, purchase location, price, package size, and social influence) was constructed based on a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE). A D-optimal design was implemented using SAS 9.4 software to generate 16 choice sets (divided into two versions), with two-stage questions incorporated to mitigate bias. A mixed logit model was applied to calculate preference coefficients (β), relative importance (RI), and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for different attributes. All six included attributes demonstrated statistically significant effects on local school-aged children’s snack choices (all P < 0.05). Specifically, school-aged children showed stronger preferences for snacks sold in supermarkets (β = 0.439), those rich in dietary fiber (β = 0.611), with sweet taste (β = 0.471), and commonly consumed by family members (β = 0.452). They were willing to pay an additional 46.49 CNY for snacks rich in dietary fiber. Large package size (β = -0.112) and price (β = -0.013) showed slight negative associations. Heterogeneity analysis revealed that boys preferred snacks rich in dietary fiber (β = 0.554) and were more price-sensitive (β = -0.026), while girls prioritized low-fat options (β = 0.738) and showed lower willingness to choose large packages (β = -0.259). School-aged children with less-educated parents placed greater emphasis on taste (RI = 25.33%), whereas those from highly-educated families valued package size more (RI = 10.43%). Overweight/obesity school-aged children preferred spicy snacks (β = 0.448) and were more price-sensitive (β = -0.115), while normal-weight school-aged children tended to choose sweet-tasting snacks (β = 0.510). Snack preferences among school-aged children vary significantly by socio-demographic characteristics. Interventions should be tailored to the specific characteristics of them, while simultaneously engaging both the school-aged children and their parents to enhance participation and educational effectiveness, thereby reducing the purchase and consumption of unhealthy snacks.