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In an extension of its current ban on junk food ads for kids under the age of 10, Britain rang in the New Year with a ban on junk food ads to kids under the age of sixteen.

"Specifically, the new measures, agreed last year, will ban adverts for junk food and drink around programmes of particular appeal to children under 16 years... Some campaigners say the ban which came into force Monday does not go far enough, calling for a total ban on junk food ads after 9:00 pm."

This is the latest in a string of measures the British government has made to try and fight growing childhood obesity.

Labels: advertising, marketing, media influences

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Following in the footsteps of Discovery Communications and Nickelodeon - who made similar announcements this week - Time Warner's Cartoon Network has announced that it will only allow use of its licensed characters for the marketing of nutritious products. House Energy & Commerce's telecom committee chairman, Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., called the move a "positive step forward."

"The moves come as some critics question whether advertising and promotion of poor food choices is a part of the reason for increasing childhood obesity and demand marketers and media companies act to limit the ads kids see to better food choices."

The Cartoon Network said that its new licensing agreements will be effective January 1. Read more at TVWeek.com.

Labels: advertising, marketing, media influences

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A new 98-page report is being presented to the Federal Trade Commission this week. In it, several well-known companies are cited as using digital marketing techniques to advertise junk food to children. Many of these techniques, which involve social networking sites, Instant Messaging and text messaging, go undetected by parents.

"'As our research shows, major food and beverage brands are utilizing a variety of new venues - including cell phones, instant messaging, video games, user-generated video and three-dimensional virtual worlds - in their efforts to target children and adolescents and to foster ongoing personal relationships with them, often under the radar of parents...'"

The report calls for the FTC to carefully scrutinize the link between these new marketing methods and childhood obesity. It cites a 23.2% increase in spending on Internet-based advertising in 2006.

Read more online.

Labels: social_networks, marketing, media influences

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The Kaiser Family Foundation has released a report which shows that children and teenagers are subjected to dozen of hours of food commercials every year; nearly 41 hours for teens between the ages of 13 and 17.

"That might not be a problem if the ads promoted healthy fare. But the report, the largest over conducted on food marketing to children and teens, highlights how TV commercials mostly tout junk food."

One-third of the commercials promoted candy and snacks, 28 percent were for cereals, and 10 percent were for fast food. Though many countries regulate food advertising, the United States isn't one of the. Which means the regulating is up to the parents. Dr. David Ludwig, director of the Obesity Program at Children's Hospital in Boston, recommends that parents limit their children's television watching to as little as a half-hour a day. Read more at DallasNews.com.

Labels: junk food, marketing, media influences

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If you ate only what is advertised on television, you would eat 25 times too much sugar and 20 times too much fat. You would also get less than half the recommended amounts of vegetables, dairy products and fruits, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

Prof. Michael Mink and his colleagues at Armstrong Atlantic State University analyzed 84 hours of prime time and 12 hours of Saturday morning cartoon television to identify what foods were being promoted in advertisements. Nearly every ad was touting what the dietitians call "junk food."

"The public should be informed about the nature and extent of the buyers in televised advertising," according to the study. "Educational efforts should provide consumers with skills for distinguishing balanced food selection from imbalanced food selection."
 

Labels: junk food, media influences

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 2 Comments

If a child's favorite cartoon character appears on a food package, the child is more likely to say the food tastes good, according to a study from Yale University Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.

• Researchers asked 40 children ages 4 to 6 years old to evaluate pairs of snack packages of graham crackers, carrots, and gummy fruit.
• One package had a picture of either Scooby-Doo, Dora the Explorer or Shrek; the other did not.
• Two-thirds of the children told researchers they preferred the package with the cartoon character, and half said the food in that package tasted better even though it was identical to the other package.

The study appeared in the journal Pediatrics.
 

Labels: junk food, advertising, media influences

Posted By: My Overweight Child 0 Comments

Good news from the realm of media influences on childhood obesity. Children are seeing fewer advertisements for food on television shows, according to new research from the Institute for Health Research and Policy.

• Study leaders Lisa Powell, Glen Szczpka and Frank Chaloupka analyzed Nielsen Media Research television ratings for children and adolescents between the years 2003 and 2007.
• Preschoolers were watching 14% fewer food ads, and ages 6 to 11 years old, nearly 4% fewer.
• However, food ads were slightly up for teenagers by 3.7%. Ads for candy bars and cookies were down by 41% for preschoolers, almost 30% for 6 to 11-year-olds, and 12% for teenagers.
• Ads for bottled water increased but those for sugar-sweetened soft drinks were down.

African-American children were exposed to 1.5 times more television ads for foods because they watch more television than other ethnic groups.

This study appears in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.
 

Labels: television, junk food, advertising, media influences

Posted By: CRC Health 1 Comment