Attorney General Bill Sorrell is looking to target fast food marketing in his next initiative to fight childhood obesity in Vermont. The state has had penny-per-ounce tax on sugar sweetened beverages already instated by Sorrell, and now they want to begin cutting advertising from directing their marketing toward children. It is in the early stages of planning, but Sorrell is determined to fight childhood obesity in all areas. They do know that this will be a challenge, because of all the laws and policies already in place protecting First Amendment Rights. However they still wish to push forward with this initiative because of their desire to fight childhood obesity in all aspects of life. Sorrell brought in a professor from Dartmouth, Dr. James Sargent, who conducted a study on the ...
Recent studies have found that more fast food and junk food commercials are being directed at older children and teens. Although restrictions exist to limit food marketing towards younger children, currently there are no restrictions on marketing food to older children, making them a vulnerable target of food marketers. ...
The Center for Digital Democracy and 16 other Youth Advocacy Groups have filed a complaint to the FTC against companies who they believe have violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998. Although, COPPA exists to protect children from being tracked online by marketers, companies such as McDonald's and Coca-Cola have been accused of violating COPPA. Now the Center for Digital Democracy is pushing the FTC to put in place more stringent regulations, which would give parents greater control over the tools used to track what their kids are viewing ...
According to the Federal Trade Commission(FTC), food marketing expenditures are declining. However, self regulation of food marketing does not appear to be doing much to limit the exposure that children have to advertisements for unhealthy foods. A 2012 report published by the FTC shows that while television ads aimed at children have decreased, other avenues such as internet ads and cell phone marketing have increased, and are being utilized as less costly and more interactive strategies to reach children. ...
Despite rules, regulations, and policies, junk food marketing can make it's way into schools. This issue became an problem in Maine when a study found that the marketing restrictions were not being completely followed. Maine's law prohibits "brand-specific advertising of certain unhealthy foods and beverages in schools," specifically foods that are not allowed to be sold in school. By doing this Maine hopes to keep unhealthy food or junk food brands out of sight of students, since they are already not allowed to purchase these foods during the school day. The foods not allowed to be served during the school day are considered "Foods of Minimum Nutritional Value," including soda, water ices, chewing gum, candies, and any food containing less than five percent of the Reference Daily ...
"Nickelodeon is the largest entertainment company for kids. It markets and advertises food to children through television, its websites, games, toy giveaways with fast-food meals, and the use of its characters to promote foods," according to The Food Marketing Workgroup. Between 2005 and 2009 approximately 79% of the ads aired on Nickelodeon featured foods of a poor nutritional value. Nickelodeon, a popular TV channel that airs programming for children, continues to allow food producers to advertise junk food to children. Because the advertisements that children see on TV can have such a strong influence, Viacom and Nickelodeon have been asked to increase their nutrition standards for foods advertised to children. The Food Marketing Workgroup, which is a network of more than 125 ...
Parents are concerned about food marketing and the way it impacts their children’s eating habits and would support policies to limit the marketing of unhealthy food and beverages to children, according to a new report from Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity. Black and Hispanic parents reported believing that their children saw more food advertising and were more affected by that advertising compared with white parents, the report found. They also perceived more obstacles to ensuring healthy eating habits for their children, and were more supportive of most policies to promote healthy eating habits and limit food marketing. Black and Hispanic parents, however, did not view the influence of food companies on their children’s eating habits more negatively, the ...
Editor’s Note: This post is part of an ongoing series that will highlight the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s work in Latino communities across the country. SaludToday Guest Blogger: Dr. Jennifer Harris
Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity Obesity continues to hit the Latino community the hardest. About 39% of Hispanic adults are overweight compared with 33% of non-Hispanic whites. As obesity increases, so does the risk for chronic diseases like diabetes and congestive heart failure. Food marketers see the Latino community as an important target because it is a large, young and growing segment that is sure to yield lots of future sales. The barrage of food marketing to Latinos—particularly when the pitch is for unhealthy cereals, fast foods and sugary ...
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and PreventObesity.net have teamed up for a webinar series on Latino obesity issues. Register here for the third webinar, “Physical Activity in Communities and Schools: The Impact on Latino Childhood Obesity,” at 2 p.m. EST Sept. 14, 2011. You can also watch recordings of the first webinar, “Nutrition in Communities and Schools: What is at Stake for Latino Children,” and second webinar, “Food Marketing and the Consequences for Latino Children and Youth.” Please also check out this toolkit, "How Advocates Can Fight Junk Food Marketing to Kids," in English and Spanish from the Berkeley Media Studies Group. The group also has accompanying videos in ...
