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Study Blasts Food Marketing Practices

Food and beverage marketing targeted to children ages 12 and under leads them to request and consume high-calorie, low-nutrient products, according to a new report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. 

The committee found strong evidence that television advertising influences the food and beverage preferences and purchase requests of children ages 2 through 11 years old and affects their consumption habits, at least over the short term.

The committee called on the government to enhance nutritional standards, incentives, and public policies to promote the marketing of healthier foods and beverages. If voluntary efforts by industry fail, the reports states, Congress should enact legislation to mandate this change on both broadcast and cable television.

AdAge reports that the study could become a watershed on the scale of the 1964 Surgeon General’s report on tobacco.

Marketing and food industry executives contend the report fails to take into account recent changes in food marketing; is based on no new research; and doesn’t explain how food marketing can be a culprit in childhood obesity even as food ads aimed at children are declining while obesity rates among children continues to rise.

While the report said that available studies are too limited to determine whether television advertising is a direct cause of obesity among children, the statistical association between ad viewing and obesity, the report found, is strong.

The report recommends that food, beverage, and restaurant companies, as well as the entertainment and marketing industries, expand, strengthen, and enforce their standards for marketing practices. For example, the report says that licensed characters, such as popular cartoon characters, should be used only to promote products that support healthful diets.

The report also recommends that media and entertainment industries incorporate storylines that promote healthful eating into programs, films, and games, and that the government should consider the use of awards and tax incentives that encourage companies to develop and promote healthier food.