Forced Feeding
Researchers Say Commercials for Candy And Fast Food Hit Kids in the Gut

By Sally Squires
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 29, 2007; D01

Sex and violence are what parents fear their children will consume on television. But a study released yesterday finds that food is the top product that TV serves up to kids and teens.

The study, done in 2005 by the Kaiser Family Foundation, is the largest examination yet of television food marketing to young viewers.

"Food is the number one product advertised to kids, followed by media such as music, video games and movies," said Vicky Rideout, a vice president of the foundation and director of its Program for the Study of Entertainment Media and Health, which commissioned the study done by Indiana University.

Representatives of the advertising industry said steps have been taken in recent years to address the kinds of concerns raised by the study.

The researchers said about a third of commercials aimed at children and teens tout candy and snacks -- fare that is often high in fat and added sugar. Both help fuel the ongoing epidemic of childhood obesity.

The study found that 8-to-12-year-old children see the most food commercials -- an average of 21 a day. That adds up to a blizzard of 7,600 ads per year, or nearly 51 hours of food marketing on television alone. (In July, an earlier Kaiser study reported that 85 percent of the companies that market food to children on television also have Web sites designed to promote their products to children with advertisements disguised as games and video "webisodes.")

Youths 13 to 17 years old viewed 17 food ads a day -- an annual total of more than 6,000 ads spanning about 40 hours. The youngest group, ages 2 to 7, saw 12 food ads per day, or 4,400 a year totaling nearly 30 hours.

"The study is really important," said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group. "It's the first time in over a decade that anybody has looked at television advertising aimed at children. And it's the first time ever that anyone has looked at such a huge sample of ads."

Researchers analyzed more than 1,600 hours of television programming broadcast from late May to mid-July 2005, with additional sampling in September. The researchers went beyond traditional children's programming to include viewing times when ratings show that children and teens are likely to be watching -- something previous studies had not done.

Half the ads shown during children's shows were for food. Of all the ads in the study, 34 percent marketed candy and snacks, 28 percent were for cereal, and 10 percent promoted fast foods.

No commercials promoted fruit or vegetables. Only 4 percent advertised dairy products -- a rich source of calcium that most children get too little of, according to the advisory committee for the 2005 U.S. Dietary Guidelines.

"Data like this is always useful," said C. Lee Peeler, chief executive of the National Advertising Review Council, a self-regulating alliance of advertising groups. "The thing that is most interesting and useful is that it will allow trends to be established."

But Peeler said "a lot has changed" since 2005.

In November, the National Advertising Review Council launched the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, a voluntary self-regulation effort that includes 11 of the largest food and beverage companies.

"This initiative is already designed to respond to" some of the problems the study found, Peeler said. "Participants pledge that a minimum of 50 percent of ads directed to kids under 12 will be devoted either to healthier products or healthier lifestyle messaging."

Ads will be monitored regularly to check on compliance, Peeler said.

Last month, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation spearheaded formation of the Coalition for Healthy Children, a joint effort of the Ad Council, the American Heart Association and other groups that plans to use the popular characters from the animated movie Shrek to deliver healthier eating and physical activity messages to kids.

"This study is a wake-up call that we all must do more to address the impact of food advertising on children," Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) said in a statement. "On a daily basis, the average child in America is exposed to dozens of television advertisements for junk food."

But some said that even more needs to be done.

"We now have data that conclusively shows kids are seeing an overwhelming number of ads for unhealthy food on all types of TV shows," Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said in a statement. "The 'childhood obesity epidemic' isn't just a catchphrase; it's a real public health crisis."

The latest statistics suggest that if rates of excess weight and obesity continue, today's children could be the first in generations to have shorter life expectancies than their parents. Weight-related illnesses once mostly limited to adults, such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, liver problems and premature heart disease, are already being diagnosed in children and teens.

"It's certainly up to parents to feed their kids a healthy diet," Wootan said. "But getting kids to eat a lot more healthfully would be a lot easier if parents didn't have to contend with $12 billion of junk-food advertising every year."