As the U.S. struggles to address a childhood obesity epidemic, federal officials are seeking to rein in the ways unhealthy foods are marketed to minors.
Proposed guidelines presented Thursday by the Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children, which was established by Congress in 2009, would address a wide range of advertising aimed at 2- to-17-year-olds. The plan focuses on traditional outlets such as television and radio, along with new media including social networking and online video games.
“Our proposal really covers all forms of marketing to kids, and the product packaging and the images and themes on the cereal boxes have tremendous appeal to kids,” said Michelle K. Rusk of the Federal Trade Commission, which is part of the working group. “The goal is to encourage children to eat more healthy foods because obesity is a huge health crisis.”
The New York Times reports that the new plan would discourage the use of characters such as Toucan Sam, the animated bird that pitches Froot Loops cereal, for marketing foods high in salt, fat, or sugar.
Such characters could, however, still be used in marketing healthy foods. “Toucan Sam can sell healthy food or junk food,” Dale Kunkel, a University of Arizona marketing professor, told the Times. “This forces Toucan Sam to be associated with healthier products.”
Along with cereals, the guidelines would apply to soft drinks, snacks, restaurant meals and other foods marketed to children.
Under the proposal, companies would have five to 10 years to comply. The guidelines officially would be voluntary, but food industry insiders say that the pressure to adopt new practices would be significant. “There’s clearly a demand hidden behind the velvet glove of the voluntary language,” said Dan Jaffe, executive vice president of the Association of National Advertisers, which has many food titans among its membership.
“We can see right from the outset that this is going to be highly restrictive,” he said, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Obesity has risen steadily, both among children and the general population, over the past several decades in the U.S. As the Journal noted, one in three U.S. children is overweight or obese, raising their risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma and other diseases.
The working group has opened a public comment period running through June 13 on the guidelines before a final report is submitted to Congress.
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Tobacco products are required to carry health warnings and, in some countries like Brazil, they are very graphic. The WHO has specified that tabacco advertisement should not be allowed.
Why is it okay for tabbaco ads to be banned from general media and unhealthy food ads targeting kids are not?
Tobacco is the leading cause of death and obesity is the third on the top five cause of death rank. Are we waiting for obesity to get all the way to the top before we act?
We are giving ten years for companies to voluntarily comply on changing their ads -
Who are we kidding?
The time to act is when you notice the problem, not after the fact. Prevention not intervention should be our goal.