With American children's pocket-money now stretching to around US$200 billion each year, the annual expenditure by food and drink companies of $10 billion on marketing to children is a financially worthwhile investment indeed. However, according to the US Institute of Medicine (IOM) in its report, Food marketing to children and youth: threat or opportunity, published last week, “food and beverage marketing to children in America represents, at best, a missed opportunity, and, at worst, a direct threat to the health of the next generation.” Sadly, as the IOM report shows, advertising giants are pushing the wrong food and drinks. Television adverts directly influence children's consumption of food, and increase their chances of becoming obese. This influence affects children younger than 8 years old disproportionately, as they lack the ability to differentiate between commercial and non-commercial content and to attribute persuasive intent to advertising. The marketing drive towards toddlers and children is not limited to television alone, with an increasing emphasis on product placement, in-school activities, and character licensing. Ironically, the obese ogre Shrek, in the world of marketing, not only persuades children what to eat but, unintentionally, shows what they may become if they eat it.This corporate disregard for children's health is not confined to America. In Europe around one in four children is obese, and 400 000 more children become obese each year. As a consequence, the European Commission last week launched its green paper on the promotion of healthy diets and physical activity. As EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou says, “today's overweight teenagers are tomorrow's heart attack or diabetes victims”. In the UK, June, 2006, will see the provisional second reading of the Children's Food Bill. The Bill includes specific mention of the prohibition of marketing certain foods and drinks to children. What the USA and Europe still lack, however, is the legislative ability to protect children from the malign influence of some advertising strategies. Without this legislation, children will continue to become fat, along with the wallets of advertising executives. With American children's pocket-money now stretching to around US$200 billion each year, the annual expenditure by food and drink companies of $10 billion on marketing to children is a financially worthwhile investment indeed. However, according to the US Institute of Medicine (IOM) in its report, Food marketing to children and youth: threat or opportunity, published last week, “food and beverage marketing to children in America represents, at best, a missed opportunity, and, at worst, a direct threat to the health of the next generation.” Sadly, as the IOM report shows, advertising giants are pushing the wrong food and drinks. Television adverts directly influence children's consumption of food, and increase their chances of becoming obese. This influence affects children younger than 8 years old disproportionately, as they lack the ability to differentiate between commercial and non-commercial content and to attribute persuasive intent to advertising. The marketing drive towards toddlers and children is not limited to television alone, with an increasing emphasis on product placement, in-school activities, and character licensing. Ironically, the obese ogre Shrek, in the world of marketing, not only persuades children what to eat but, unintentionally, shows what they may become if they eat it. This corporate disregard for children's health is not confined to America. In Europe around one in four children is obese, and 400 000 more children become obese each year. As a consequence, the European Commission last week launched its green paper on the promotion of healthy diets and physical activity. As EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou says, “today's overweight teenagers are tomorrow's heart attack or diabetes victims”. In the UK, June, 2006, will see the provisional second reading of the Children's Food Bill. The Bill includes specific mention of the prohibition of marketing certain foods and drinks to children. What the USA and Europe still lack, however, is the legislative ability to protect children from the malign influence of some advertising strategies. Without this legislation, children will continue to become fat, along with the wallets of advertising executives.
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Jul 31, 2023
Sophie C Boerman + 2
Open Access
