Marketing Food to Children

My mom pointed me to a great article about marketing food to children. If you have children, you already know what a struggle it can be to avoid buying all those unhealthy foods your children demand.

Why is it such a struggle? One reason is how heavily unhealthy foods are marketed to children. Not only do food items bear the likenesses of such popular kid cartoons as SpongeBob SquarePants and Shrek, advertising for these same food items reaches kids just about everywhere.

The NY Times article reports: "Marketing bombards children not only through television but also in schools, in movies, video games, web sites, books, and even in textbooks."

What's most interesting, I think, is Americans' blasé attitude toward marketing to children. In America, there are no bans on what companies are allowed to do to market and advertise to children. Furthermore, the government isn't expected to enact bans anytime soon.

This is in stark contrast to some other countries who've taken a more aggressive stance. The NY Times reports:

"Sweden, Norway, Austria and Luxembourg have all banned television advertising to children. School-based marketing has been banned in Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Portugal and Vietnam. In Ireland, where television commercials for candy and fast foods are banned, wrappers must carry warnings that fast food should be eaten in moderation and that sugary foods cause tooth decay."

Given the obesity problem that both children and adults face in the United States, it seems we could benefit very much from legal restraints that prevent food companies from marketing to children. But, at this point, we can only hope.

Comments

[Brandy]

I was looking for info on good foods for my finicky son when I came to this site. I could agree more with the struggles that I face vs. the marketing that draws him to the foods void of any nutrition. I was in Mother's Market in Costa Mesa, CA a truly great natural food store with great prices and I met a company that farms wheat grass in Kansas and they have a Kid Super Food that is loaded with great fruits and vegetables and is in a powder format. I mix in it rice milk for my son every morning and he loves it! After talking to the rep from Amazing Grass, he said it is so difficult as a small company to spread the word about such a great product. I wish they had the deep pockets of PG, because they certainly have more integrity