Marketers Fuel the Sugary Drink Habits of Latino Preschoolers

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The average Latino infant has 3.8 hours of TV exposure a day, and TV and other media usage remains high as Latino kids get older.

Sugary drink marketers are taking full advantage.

Latino preschoolers saw 23% more #SugaryDrink ads on Spanish TV in 2013 than in years prior, according to new Sugary Drinks and Latino Kids research from Salud America!, an obesity prevention network under Dr. Amelie Ramirez at UT Health San Antonio.

Ads for sugary beverages were more commonly found on Spanish-language than English-language TV. Ad spending on sugary drinks on Spanish-language TV rose 44% from 2010 to 2013, a study found.

How can this change?

The Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) is a voluntary self-regulation program for food and drink companies to create healthier advertising to kids under age 12.

Lots of companies are in CFBAI already.

But, according to the new research, beverage companies’ voluntary efforts to reduce children’s exposure to sugary drink marketing have had little impact.

Stronger restrictions on sugary drink marketing to children are likely to be necessary to achieve significant reductions in exposure to advertising and promotion.

What can you do?

Follow in the footsteps of counter-marketers.

Campaigns in California, The Open Truth and Sugar Bites, are working to improve people’s understanding of the dangers of added sugar.

That’s also happening in San Antonio.

To inform and educate the San Antonio community on just how much sugar is in the beverages people consume daily, health officials and community leaders partnered to launch the bilingual Sugar-Packed marketing campaign.

After San Antonio’s previous attempts to tackle sugary drink consumption fizzled, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff and his partners reignited a campaign against sugar with hopes of changing the way residents look at its effect on health.

The campaign includes print and online materials, including a sugar calculator tool, educational brochures, and posters.

Go here for more ideas to promote water for Latino kids.