Food Advertising to Kids

Food advertising to children is a billion dollar industry.  Fast food is the most advertised type of food, followed by cereal, other restaurants and candy. While the number of TV ads for healthy items including water and fruits and vegetables increased over the last 10 years, this category is still only a small portion of all the food ads viewed by children and teens.*  

What can you do?

Be aware of marketing efforts to your children. Pay attention to foods that are marketed with prizes, toys, and movie or TV characters. Use food labels to evaluate these foods before you buy.

Help your child recognize food advertisements. Point out billboards, commercials, or magazine ads – make it into a game by deciding if they are healthy or not!

Reduce screen time. The less time your child spends watching television and playing on the computer, the less likely they are to be exposed to advertisements.

Monitor websites, television, magazines, and video games that are directly advertising unhealthy foods to your child.

Be positive when you talk to your child about healthy foods.

Stay Educated. For more information on marketing food to children, visit the following websites:

http://www.cspinet.org

http://www.fastfoodmarketing.org   

Take Action

Help promote healthy foods at your child's school and in your community:

Get involved in your child’s school wellness council to help make policies that restrict candy, unhealthy snack food and soda on school grounds.

Use this healthy snack list to plan and purchase food for class parties and celebrations.

Find a farmer that will work with your school and community to sell fruits and vegetables for a healthy fundraiser.

Encourage your child’s teacher to avoid using food as a reward in the classroom.

*This information is from a Rudd Center report in 2017.