Solution or Smokescreen? Evaluating Industry Self-Regulation of Televised Food Marketing to Children

It is well established that children's exposure to television advertising for unhealthy food products contributes to the epidemic of childhood obesity. Given this finding, public health officials recommended that the government restrict unhealthy food marketing to children if the industry does...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Communication law and policy 2014-07, Vol.19 (3), p.263-292
Main Authors: Kunkel, Dale, Castonguay, Jessica, Wright, Paul J., McKinley, Christopher J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Advertising
Children
Children & youth
Epidemics
Food
Food products
Health policy
Industry
Marketing
Nutrition
Obesity
Public health
Self regulation
Television
Television advertising
Youth
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Summary:It is well established that children's exposure to television advertising for unhealthy food products contributes to the epidemic of childhood obesity. Given this finding, public health officials recommended that the government restrict unhealthy food marketing to children if the industry does not accomplish that goal voluntarily. Food marketers responded by adopting industry self-regulation several years ago, but this study finds that it has produced only marginal improvements in the overall nutritional quality of foods advertised to youth. Unless federal policy-makers intervene, it appears that unhealthy food marketing to children will continue to contribute to childhood obesity in the future.
ISSN:1081-1680
1532-6926
DOI:10.1080/10811680.2014.919797