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Should
food ads aimed at kids be limited?
January 13, 05
Suzanne Havala Hobbs
Government regulations prohibit kids from buying cigarettes
and alcohol. Should we protect them from chips, candy and
burgers, too?
It’s an idea that is gaining traction among some health
advocates.
A report on the prevention of obesity in youth issued last
year by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies
included this recommendation: “Industry should develop
and strictly adhere to marketing and advertising guidelines
that minimize the risk of obesity in children and youth.”
The IOM concluded there isn’t enough data to support
a ban on all food and beverage advertising targeting children,
but it recommended an approach similar to that now used for
tobacco and alcohol.
Now a consumer group – the Center for Science in the
Public Interest – has issued its own set of guidelines
for food marketing to children. The rationale: Food marketing
grabs kids’ attention, spurs them to choose the foods
they see in ads, and causes them to nag their parents to buy
junk. .
Among the recommendations:
* Companies should support parents’ efforts to help
kids have healthy diets. Parents are ultimately responsible
for what their kids eat, but they can’t compete with
the billions of dollars spent on marketing junk food. CSPI’s
position: Ads for junk food undermine parents’ efforts
at educating their children about good nutrition.
* Children should be protected from ads for foods that can
harm their health. Young children don’t have adequate
skills or knowledge to make wise food choices on their own,
and they are vulnerable to food ads because they don’t
understand ads are meant to persuade them to buy. Older children
are also vulnerable and have the opportunities and cash to
buy foods on their own, often without parental supervision.
* Nutrition criteria should establish which foods are marketed
to children. Kids should not be encouraged to eat foods that
have low nutritional value. Out: Soft drinks, sports drinks,
juice drinks with less than half real juice, iced tea and
other drinks with caloric sweeteners. In: Water, including
seltzer without caloric sweeteners added, fat-free milk and
fortified soymilk. Out: Foods high in saturated and trans
fats, sodium, and added sugars, and supersized portions. That
includes most fast foods, snack chips, cakes, cookies, and
candy. In: Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy
products.
* Companies should use responsible marketing techniques. For
instance, they shouldn’t urge kids to nag their parents
for junk foods, and they should leave logos for junk foods
off kids’ clothes, toys, and dishware. They shouldn’t
sponsor kids’ school and sporting events with brands
associated with junk foods, like soft drinks and candy bars.
They should refrain from advertising junk foods on TV shows
where a quarter of the audience or more is kids.
CSPI makes the case that since schools are dedicated to educating
children and are supported by tax dollars, food companies
should adhere to strict guidelines for healthy eating and
not sell or promote low-nutrition foods on school grounds.
That includes school fundraising activities, educational incentive
programs, and logos, brand names and spokes-characters on
educational materials such as books and posters as well as
on scoreboards and signs.
The guidelines make sense, but they represent what many would
consider a radical departure from the norm in our media-driven
culture. It will take a coordinated and cooperative effort,
and some new approaches, like these guidelines represent,
to reverse the current pattern of obesity and disease brought
on by our lifestyles.
Note: The full set of guidelines can be found online at www.cspinet.org/marketingguidelines.pdf. |
