China - A Chinese take on pediatric dosage forms
When we did a project on pediatric dosage forms in the US, one of the strong push-backs against pediatric-friendly looking or tasting medication was the argument that kids might find it too appealing, think it's candy and overdose while their parents aren't looking. While the pushback seem to be stronger from our client rather the parents themselves who often had great experiences with child-friendly vitamins. These caused no daily struggles and at the end of the day, most parents want to keep vitamines and meds in a difficult to reach place for their kids anyways. Others even took on the stance, explaining that it was more important for parents to teach their kids to respect meds rather than just hide them away. Of course, the age group matters in this respect. On a trip to a pharmacy in Kunming, I was surprised to find the following aisle for pediatric medications. First of all, the packaging struck me as incredibly appealing to children. While all of these where OTC meds mostly for colds, their visual language was all about making it cute looking and appealing to kids.
One dosage form struck me in particular. Chewables like Tums Antacid but in this interesting shape. It reminded me of sugar decoration for cakes in Germany. When I asked the pharmacist about the shape, her candid reply was very pragmatic. Kids only like to put things in their mouths that look appealing in shape and color, this one here is very successful.
