The Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity has published a study that criticizes cereal companies for allegedly promoting high-sugar products to children and portraying “unhealthy eating behaviors” in TV advertisements. Megan LoDolce, et al., “Sugar as Part of a Balanced Breakfast? What Cereal Advertisements Teach Children About Healthy Eating,” Journal of Health Communication, August 2013. According to the study’s authors, who reportedly analyzed 158 cereal advertisements that aired between 2008 and 2009 for messaging type, creative techniques and the eating behaviors modeled, 87 percent of ads viewed by children promoted high-sugar products and “were significantly more likely to convey unrealistic and contradictory messages about cereal attributes and healthy eating.” In particular, the analysis suggested that 91 percent of high-sugar cereal ads directed at children “ascribed extraordinary powers to these products,” while 67 percent “portrayed healthy and unhealthy eating behaviors.” “These findings also raise ethical and public health concerns about…
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A recent study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has claimed that fast food TV advertisements directed at children have allegedly failed to abide by Children’s Advertising Review Unit and Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative recommendations that food products—as opposed to toys, movie tie-ins and brands—should be the focus of youth marketing messages. Amy Bernhardt, et al., “How Television Fast Food Marketing Aimed at Children Compares with Adult Advertisements,” PLoS One, August 2013. After reviewing all nationally televised advertisements for the top 25 quick service restaurants (QSRs) in the United States, researchers with the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and Public Health Advocacy Institute reported that 99 percent of the 92 QSR children’s meal advertisements that aired between July 1, 2009, and June 30, 2010, were attributable to either McDonald’s or Burger King. They also purportedly found that—compared with adult advertisements over the same period—visual branding, food…
In response to evidence that British children appear to be getting fatter, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges in London has reportedly recommended imposing a 20 percent tax on sugary soft drinks for one year as an experiment to see whether it reduces consumption by kids. The group has also called for a ban on TV ads for foods high in saturated fats, sugar and salt until 9 p.m., and has suggested that the government develop “formal recommendations on reducing the proximity of fast food outlets to schools, colleges, leisure centers and other places where children gather.” Meanwhile, the British Soft Drinks Association and other industry groups have publicly opposed such steps, claiming that most soda sold in Britain does not contain added sugar and that a new tax would hurt consumers who can “ill afford it.” The country’s Food and Drink Federation has also contended that existing restrictions on TV ads…
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has proposed adequate intake (AI) levels for fluoride and molybdenum as part of its effort to provide dietary reference values (DRVs) for micronutrients, including vitamin C, folate, iron, zinc, calcium, and iodine. Finalized by EFSA’s Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA Panel) after a public consultation, the proposed AI for fluoride is 0.05 mg/kg body weight per day “for children aged 7 months to 17 years as well as adults, including pregnant and lactating women,” and the proposed AI for molybdenum is 65 micrograms per day for all adults and 10-65 micrograms per day for infants, children and adolescents. According to EFSA, the NDA Panel has already proposed DRVs for energy, macronutrients—protein, fats and carbohydrates—dietary fiber, and water. In turn, such DRVs are used “to establish reference values for nutrition labeling, for the assessment and planning of diets and for developing food-based…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a report indicating that obesity rates among preschoolers decreased in 19 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands between 2008 and 2011. Analyzing weight and height information from nearly 12 million children aged 2 to 4 years who participated in CDC’s Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System, the report showed that Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey, South Dakota, and the U.S. Virgin Islands saw at least a one percentage point decrease in obesity rates. According to CDC research, approximately one out of eight preschoolers in the United States is obese. “Although obesity remains epidemic, the tide has begun to turn for some kids in some states,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden. “While the changes are small, for the first time in a generation they are going in the right direction. Obesity in early childhood increases the risk of serious health problems for life.” One area…
Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity has announced researcher Marlene Schwartz as its next director following the departure of Kelly Brownell for Duke University’s Sanford School. According to a July 19, 2013, press release, Schwartz previously served as co-director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders, where she studied “how children’s diets and health are influenced by home, school, and community environments,” as well as the impact of local, state and federal policies on nutrition. “Right now, we live in a world where it is difficult for parents to feed their children well, and people are discriminated against based on body size and weight. This must change,” said Schwartz, whose work received support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, and Horizon Foun- dation. “At the Rudd Center, we are working to create a world that supports parents’ efforts to…
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued a draft assessment of consumer exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), provisionally concluding that “for all population groups diet is the major source of exposure to [BPA] and exposure is lower than previously estimated.” According to a July 25, 2013, news release, EFSA used exposure modeling and new human biomonitoring data to refine its estimate of dietary BPA exposure levels for infants and toddlers (375 nanograms per kilogram of body weight per day) as well as the general population above age 18 (132 ng/kg bw/day). In addition, the agency found that dietary BPA exposure was highest among children ages 3 to 10, “explainable by their higher food consumption on a body weight basis.” “By comparison, these estimates are less than 1% of the current Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) for BPA (0.05 milligrams/kg bw/day) established by EFSA in 2006,” stated EFSA, which identified canned food and non-canned meat and meat…
The Obesity Policy Coalition (OPC) has announced that the Australian Advertising Standards Board (ASB) has upheld its complaints alleging that TV commercials for Kellogg Co.’s LCM® cereal bars violated the Responsible Children’s Marketing Initiative (RCMI). According to OPC, the two advertisements in question were directed primarily toward children but failed to promote “a healthy dietary choice consistent with established scientific or Australian government standards,” healthy dietary habits or physical activity. In upholding the two complaints, ASB disagreed with Kellogg’s claims that the commercials were not aired during programming “where the proportion of children under 12 years of age is below 25 percent,” ruling instead that LCM® products “do not meet the Kellogg Global Nutrient Criteria for a healthier dietary choice” and therefore are “not permitted to be advertised to children under 12.” The board also found that although the commercials did not violate any provisions of the Australian Association of…
Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity has published a paper criticizing the use of food and beverage advertising on websites directed at children. A.E. Ustjanauskas, et al., “Food and beverage advertising on children’s web sites,” Pediatric Obesity, July 2013. Using data provided by comScore, researchers evaluated a total of 3.4 billion food and beverage advertisements shown over a one-year period on 72 popular children’s sites, including Nick.com, NeoPets.com and CartoonNetwork.com. Of the 254 different food products advertised, cereals apparently accounted for 45 percent of ad impressions, followed by fast food restaurants (19 percent) and prepared foods and meals (8 percent). The study singled out companies committed to the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), reporting that signatories were responsible for 89 percent of all food and beverage advertisements on children’s sites. In particular, the authors claimed that CFBAI companies “placed 320 million impressions for brands not…
The Obesity Policy Coalition (OPC) recently announced that the Australian Advertising Standards Board (ASB) has upheld its complaint alleging that a TV commercial for Kellogg Co.’s Coco Pops® cereal violated the Responsible Children’s Marketing Initiative (RCMI). According to ASB’s case report, the advertisement under review featured a bowl of Coco Pops® playing “Marco Polo” in a cereal bowl, followed by an image of a child consuming the product and a voiceover stating, “Just like a chocolate milkshake only crunchy.” OPC claimed that this commercial violated RCMI by (i) communicating directly with children, (ii) advertising a product that does not “represent a healthy dietary choice consistent with established scientific or Australian government standards,” and (iii) failing to promote “healthy dietary habits or physical activity.” In particular, the coalition argued that the commercial not only imitated children’s voices and behavior in a bid to appeal “overwhelmingly to children,” but was broadcast during…
