www.cspinet.orgnutritionpolicy

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www.cspinet.org/nutritionpolicy

• CSPI

Center for Science in the Public Interest
Publisher of Nutrition Action Healthletter
Margo G. Wootan, D.Sc. Director, Nutrition Policy
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Effect of Food Advertising on Children

• ? Can confuse nutritional knowledge (e.g. whether
  fruit is in a product)
• ? Changes food preferences
• ? Changes purchasing behavior
• ? Influences choice and consumption by brand
• ? Alters balance of categories of food eaten

UK Food Standards Agency (September 2003)
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Food marketing undermines parents ability to feed
children well

• 4 out of 5 ads sugary cereals, snack foods,
  candy, soft drinks, and fast food
• Marketing to children doubled
• Advertising influences food preference, choices,
  purchase requests
• Kids misled by and dont understand advertising

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Food Marketing History

• 1978 FTC recommended ban on ads to young
  children, limit sugary foods ads to older
  children, advertisers of sugary foods fund
  counter ads
• 1980 FTC Improvements Act withdrew the FTCs
  authority to issue industry-wide regulations
  (allows only case-by-case enforcement)
• 1990 Childrens Television Act 10½ min/hr
  weekends, 12 min/hr weekdays

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Self Regulation or Foxes Guarding the Hen House?

• Childrens Advertising Review Unit (CARU)
• Advisory board includes McDonalds, Hershey,
  Kellogg, Kraft, Nestle
• Laudable goals, but vague guidelines
• Guidelines not enforceable, are voluntary
• Case-by-case enforcement not effective
• Cases take time to build
• Changing pitch is not sufficient

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International Regulation of Marketing to Children

• Sweden, Norway, Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium
  (Flemish region ) Quebec (Canada) ban
  television advertising to children
• Belgium, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Portugal,
  Quebec (Canada) Vietnam ban marketing in
  schools
• Denmark, Norway, Australia limit prizes or
  premiums
• Denmark, Sweden prohibit use of
  characters/actors from kids TV in ads

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Parents Are Outmaneuvered by Marketers

• Parents Marketers
• Nutrition gatekeepers Profit driven
• Model and teach Sophisticated techniques
• Try not to nag kids 58 TV ads/day
• Healthy food best Profitable food best
• Limited knowledge Expertise in persuasion
• Limited resources Extensive resources

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Limit marketing of low-nutrition foods to children

• HOW
• Develop nutrition standards for foods that can be
  marketed to children
• Conduct marketing campaigns to promote healthy
  eating and activity (ex, VERB)
• Urge fast-food restaurants, food manufacturers,
  TV stations to follow guidelines for responsible
  food marketing aimed at children
• Legal action

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• Guidelines for Responsible Food Marketing to
  Children
• Industry should develop and strictly adhere to
  marketing and advertising guidelines that
  minimize the risk of obesity in children and
  youth.
• Institute of Medicine of the National Academies,
  2005
• Center for Science in the Public Interest
• www.cspinet.org/nutritionpolicy/
• kidsmarketingguidelines.pdf

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Pestering Parents How Food Companies Market
Obesity to Children
www.cspinet.org/pesteringparents
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School-Based Marketing

• Product sales
• Cultivate brand loyalty (lifetime of sales)
• Reach most children
• Target captive audience
• Associate product with trusted schools and
  teachers

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Schools with Vending Machines or School Store

• 43 of elementary schools
• 74 of middle/junior high schools
• 98 of senior high

Source CDC, School Health Policies and Programs
Study 2000
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Supporting Healthy Eating and Physical Activity
in Schools

• Implement nutrition standards for all school
  foods
• Limit junk food marketing in schools
• Promote and provide fruits and veggies
• Promote and serve 1 and fat-free milk
• Strengthen nutrition education
• Increase activity via PE, recess, and
  after-school programs
• Create Safe Routes to School

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School Foods Tool Kit
www.cspinet.org/schoolfoods
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NANAs model policies and additional resources
www.SchoolWellnessPolicies.org
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Why Policy Why nutrition policy is
important Policy Options Policies and programs
to promote nutrition and physical activity Get
Involved What you can do Find Out More Why its
hard to eat well and be active in America
today The National Alliance for Nutrition and
Activity Learn more about how to eat well

• Eating well and being physically active takes
  more than just willpower. We need programs and
  policies that make healthy food more available,
  that disclose the calorie content of restaurant
  foods, and that teach people how to make healthy
  eating easier. There are existing nutrition
  policies and programs, like Nutrition Facts
  labels on packaged foods, nutrition standards for
  school lunches, and regulation of food additives.
  But more needs to be done to help people who want
  to eat well and prevent diet-related disease.

www.cspinet.org/nutritionpolicy
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