A recent market study reviewed Romanian children’s and teenagers’ lifestyles, including eating behaviours, ways of spending leisure time or rest and the importance of gifts.
59% of children eat sweets once a day and 30% 2-3 times a day
According to Reveal Marketing Research, 83% of parents say they are very and very involved in their children’s diet, with women (91%) significantly more involved than men (74%).
Regarding children’s different eating habits, 78% of the parents surveyed mention that their children eat breakfast almost every day, with those who most often skip the first meal of the day being teenagers aged 13-15 (70%).
As for the consumption of sweets, the study found that most children consume sweets once a day (59%), significantly more so teenagers aged 13-18 (65%) or 2-3 times a day (30%).
There is no doubt that children and teenagers love fizzy drinks, with 50% consuming them several times a week, of which 7% daily or almost daily. As expected, teenagers aged 13-18 years differ by a higher frequency of consumption (66% vs. 50% total sample).
The importance of fruit consumption is major when talking about a healthy and balanced diet, and according to the information provided by parents, 94% of children usually consume fresh fruit weekly, most of them daily or almost daily (52%), especially those aged up to 3 years (80%). Compared to the 2021 survey, it is worrying that the number of parents claiming that their children do not consume fresh fruit every day or almost every day has increased from 3 to 5 out of 10 parents.
A healthy and proper diet is essential for a harmonious growth of children, and half of parents (51%) choose to get information on this from the internet. Other sources of information include advice from the paediatrician (48%), most often mentioned by parents of children under 3 (68%), books and magazines (37%) and information from other parents (34%).
Most children (63%) spend between 1-3 hours a day outdoors, and 5 out of 10 children have difficulty waking up in the morning
Children need activities to keep them occupied, and more than half of them spend on average 1-2 hours (39%) or 2-3 hours (24%) outdoors each day. It is also worth noting that 2 out of 10 teenagers aged 13-18 spend less than 1 hour a day outdoors. Differences in the amount of time spent outdoors also exist by residence, as expected, with rural children spending more time outdoors on average.
Analysing the types of activities preferred, we see that they differ by age group, with children up to 12 years old more likely to prefer active play and running (68% vs. 57% total sample), while teenagers aged 13-18 years more likely to prefer combining physical activities with moments of relaxation and observation (43% vs. 31% total sample).
Another daily activity of children is spending time online, with 5 out of 10 children spending on average 1-3 hours a day using the internet. Time spent online increases with age, with more than a third of teenagers (13-18 years) using the internet for more than 3 hours a day (37% vs. 26% total sample).
In addition to the activity regime, the survey data also reveal important information about children’s rest schedule. Thus, most children (42%) go to bed between 21:00 and 22:00, with a significantly higher proportion of children under 12, and another third (34%) after 22:00, especially in the 13-18 age group (44%).
Regarding sleep schedule, 7 out of 10 parents say that their children usually fall asleep within a few minutes or a maximum of 15-30 minutes after reaching their bed/room.
Moreover, half of the parents (51%) mention that their children usually wake up quite easily in the morning, while 37% rate the difficulty of waking up as average, especially for 16-18 year olds (43%) and 12% as waking up quite hard, especially for 13-15 year olds (22%).
5 out of 10 children usually receive presents from their parents on International Children’s Day, celebrated on June 1’st
Most parents buy presents for their children occasionally, once every few months (43%) or quite often, a few times a month (36%). As a general trend, the frequency with which children receive presents decreases directly with age, e.g. children up to 3 years old receive significantly more presents weekly (20% vs. 10% total sample), while teenagers aged 16-18 receive presents most often occasionally, every few months (50% vs. 43% total sample).
The most important criteria that parents consider when deciding what gifts to give their children are their child’s interests and hobbies (62%), the price and available budget (62%) and the child’s age and development (56%).
Depending on the ages of the children, there are differences in the criteria parents take into account when deciding to buy. Thus, while for children aged up to 3 years, the educational or creative value of the gift is significantly higher (61% vs. 43% total sample), for children aged 4-5 years, the quality and safety of the product is more important (55% vs. 47% total sample).
Differences in parents’ attitudes and behaviours are also observed by gender, with women focusing more than men on the interests and passions of the child (68% vs. 54%), while men place a higher emphasis on the sentimental value of the gift (23% vs. 16% women).
The survey also identified the occasions on which children typically receive gifts. Thus, the most frequently mentioned events were birthdays (83%), annual holidays – Christmas, Easter, etc. (73%) and Children’s Day – 1 June (49%). It should be noted that on Children’s Day, teenagers aged 16-18 receive gifts to a significantly lesser extent (36%).
In the case of primary and secondary school children (6-15 years old), we notice an increased incidence of gifts received as rewards for good results at school (49% vs. 42% total sample).
The main benefits of gifts in the parents’ view are stimulating creativity and imagination (64%), especially for children up to 3 years old (81%), encouraging joy and appreciation (61%) and strengthening the emotional bond (60%). Given the changes and challenges brought about by the teenage years, parents of 13-15 year olds mention to a greater extent the role of gifts in strengthening the emotional bond with their children (71% vs. 60% total sample).
Children have different interests and preferences for gifts as they mature. So, while children up to 12 years old are primarily interested in toys (74% vs. 57% total sample), 13-18 year old teenagers are more interested in clothes and accessories (73% vs. 62% total sample) and technology – tablet, phone etc. (61% vs. 48% total sample).
Parents also expressed their views on the potential disadvantages that gifts can have on children, the main mentions being the constant expectation of material rewards and the development of unrealistic expectations in life (48%), the difficulty of managing and recognising the real value of things (42%), the reduction of interest and creativity in playing with existing toys (37%), especially for children under 6 (48%) or the dependence on material objects (36%).