scholarly journals Food Marketing to Children in Iran: Regulation that Needs Further Regulation

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 722-744
Author(s):  
Nasrin Omidvar ◽  
Ayoub Al-Jawaldeh ◽  
Maryam Amini ◽  
Mina Babashahi ◽  
Zahra Abdollahi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Science ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Food Marketing ◽  
Intersectoral Collaboration ◽  
Unhealthy Food ◽  
Legal Enforcement ◽  
Food Advertisements ◽  
The Media ◽  
Marketing To Children

Increased exposure to advertising of unhealthy food products is one of the main risk factors for the increased prevalence of childhood obesity and non-communicable diseases. This scoping review aimed to investigate the characteristics and effects of food advertisements targeted at children in Iran and review the existing regulations on food marketing targeted at children in the country. In this study, we searched Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, Google, and Google scholar, in addition to Iranian scientific search engines, including Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology (Iran.doc), Scientific Information Database (SID), Iranmedex, Magiran, and Civilica up to December 2020 to find any literature about food marketing to children in Iran and current related regulations and policies in the country. A total of 23 eligible studies were selected for this review. Most of the studies had focused on television as the media to assess. The main food products advertised with reference to children included: Salty snacks, including cheese puffs, chips, cheese fish snacks, puffed corn, and sweet snacks such as ice creams, cakes/biscuits/cookies and candies, beverages/drinks/soft drinks/fruit juices, dried fruits and fruit rolls, and chocolates. Strategies that most commonly used in marketing foods to children in Iran were emotional appeals, misleading messages/claims, use of music and known characters to children, as well as conveying happiness and/or security. The main reported violation of food regulations included using obese children, either as consumers or presenters of the product. In Iran the advertising of unhealthy food products for the general population is banned; however, it is weakly implemented. There are a limited number of regulations that have addressed children explicitly in this regard. The main barriers identified in partial implementation of regulations included weakness in scientific criteria, legal enforcement guarantee, poor intersectoral collaboration, inadequate infrastructures, and poor monitoring. Policies and regulations in food marketing need to clearly address children as an important audience. It is suggested future policies focused on children cover all forms of food marketing and consider all types of persuasive food marketing strategies targeted at children.

Exposure to unhealthy food and beverage advertising during the school commute in Australia

2021 ◽  
pp. jech-2021-217032
Author(s):  
Gina Trapp ◽  
Paula Hooper ◽  
Lukar E Thornton ◽  
Kelly Kennington ◽  
Ainslie Sartori ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Status ◽  
Food Marketing ◽  
Unhealthy Food ◽  
Outdoor Advertising ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Marketing Environment ◽  
Dietary Behaviours ◽  
Food Advertisements ◽  
Food And Beverage ◽  
High Level

BackgroundFood marketing exposure has the potential to influence children’s dietary behaviours and health status, however, few studies have identified how ‘obesogenic’ the outdoor food marketing environment is along public transport (bus and/or train) or walking routes that children take to school.MethodsAudits of all outdoor advertisements present along likely train, bus and walking routes to 24 secondary schools (ie, 3 routes per school, 72 routes total) were conducted in Perth, Western Australia (WA). The size, content, type and setting of each advertisement were recorded in accordance with the International Network for Food and Obesity/non-communicable diseases Research, Monitoring and Action Support protocol for monitoring outdoor advertising.ResultsOf the 4016 total advertisements observed, almost half were for food (n=1754, 44%) and of these, 80% (n=1397) advertised discretionary (non-core) foods, and 8% (n=138) advertised healthy (core) foods. On average, commuting to school by train, bus and walking exposed Perth schoolchildren to 37.1, 22 and 4.5 discretionary (non-core) food ads per one-way trip to school, respectively.ConclusionsChildren living in Perth, WA experience a high level of exposure to unhealthy outdoor food advertisements during the school commute. Policies which restrict the placement and content of outdoor advertising, could be a useful strategy in the fight against childhood obesity.

Food Advertising on Television Before and After a National Unhealthy Food Marketing Regulation in Chile, 2016–2017

2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (7) ◽  
pp. 1054-1059 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Correa ◽  
Marcela Reyes ◽  
Lindsey Smith Taillie ◽  
Camila Corvalán ◽  
Francesca R. Dillman Carpentier
Keyword(s):  
Food Advertising ◽  
Food Marketing ◽  
Unhealthy Food ◽  
Fruit And Vegetable ◽  
Breakfast Cereals ◽  
Saturated Fats ◽  
Food Advertisements ◽  
Before And After

Objectives. To study changes in food advertising on television after Chile’s food marketing restriction was implemented in June 2016. Methods. Food advertisements shown between 6 am and 12 am on the 4 primary broadcast and 4 cable channels with the largest Chilean youth audiences during 2 random weeks in April and May 2016 and 2017 were analyzed for product nutrition and child-directed marketing. Results. The percentage of ads for foods high in energy, saturated fats, sugars, or sodium (HEFSS) decreased from 41.9% before the regulation to 14.8% after the regulation (P < .001). This decrease occurred in programs intended for children (from 49.7% to 12.7%; P < .001) as well as general audiences (from 38.5% to 15.7%; P < .001). The largest declines were seen for sodas, desserts, breakfast cereals and industrialized fruit- and vegetable-flavored drinks. Fewer HEFSS ads featured child-directed content (a decrease from 44.0% to 12.0%; P < .001), and the remaining child-directed HEFSS ads primarily aired on internationally owned cable channels. Conclusions. The significant postregulation decrease in the prevalence of HEFSS television ads suggests that children in Chile are now less exposed to unhealthy food advertising. However, television originating from national and international outlets should still be monitored for compliance.

scholarly journals Children’s magazines: reading resources or food marketing tools?

2009 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra C Jones ◽  
Amanda Reid
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Food Marketing ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Children's Magazines ◽  
Food Advertisements ◽  
Legal Restrictions ◽  
Advertising To Children

AbstractObjectiveMagazines targeted at children under 12 years old are growing in popularity; past studies have asserted that food items are rarely exposed, but methodological issues may have covered the true extent of covert promotion. The primary purpose of the present study was to quantify the nature and extent of the promotion of branded food products in Australian children’s magazines.DesignWe conducted a content analysis of possible food promotions in seven top-selling Australian children’s magazines published in 2005. In addition to regular food advertisements, the number of advertisements for premiums, editorials, puzzles or games, competitions and branded non-food promotions by food companies was recorded. Category frequencies are reported with a detailed description of the promotions present during September 2005.ResultsOnly fifty-eight out of the 444 items identified could be classed as regular food advertisements. Several advertisements appeared to be in breach of codes regarding advertising to children and premiums.ConclusionsThe pervasiveness of covert food marketing in the present study was contrary to previous findings and raises questions about the effectiveness of legal restrictions and self-regulation of advertising in protecting children from commercial food messages that may not be regarded as advertising.

scholarly journals How Food Marketing on Instagram Shapes Adolescents’ Food Preferences: Online Randomized Trial

10.2196/28689 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. e28689
Author(s):  
Marie Bragg ◽  
Samina Lutfeali ◽  
Tenay Greene ◽  
Jessica Osterman ◽  
Madeline Dalton
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Online Advertising ◽  
Food Preferences ◽  
The Other ◽  
Food Marketing ◽  
Traditional Food ◽  
Unhealthy Food ◽  
Food Advertisements ◽  
Mere Presence ◽  
Children’S Exposure

Background Worldwide obesity rates have prompted 16 countries to enact policies to reduce children’s exposure to unhealthy food marketing, but few policies address online advertising practices or protect adolescents from being targeted. Given adolescents spend so much time online, it is critical to understand how persuasive Instagram food advertisements (ads) are compared with traditional food ads. To strengthen online food marketing policies, more evidence is needed on whether social media ads are more persuasive than other types of ads in shaping adolescents’ preferences. Objective This study examined whether adolescents could identify food companies’ Instagram posts as ads, and the extent to which Instagram versus traditional food ads shape adolescents’ preferences. Methods In Part 1, participants aged 13-17 years (N=832) viewed 8 pairs of ads and were asked to identify which ads originated from Instagram. One ad in each pair was selected from traditional sources (eg, print; online banner ad), and the other ad was selected from Instagram, but we removed the Instagram frame—which includes the logo, comments, and “likes.” In Part 2, participants were randomized to rate food ads that ostensibly originated from (1) Instagram (ie, we photoshopped the Instagram frame onto ads); or (2) traditional sources. Unbeknownst to participants, half of the ads in their condition originated from Instagram and half originated from traditional sources. Results In Part 1, adolescents performed worse than chance when asked to identify Instagram ads (P<.001). In Part 2, there were no differences on 4 of 5 outcomes in the “labeled ad condition.” In the “unlabeled ad condition,” however, they preferred Instagram ads to traditional ads on 3 of 5 outcomes (ie, trendiness, P=.001; artistic appeal, P=.001; likeability, P=.001). Conclusions Adolescents incorrectly identified traditional ads as Instagram posts, suggesting the artistic appearance of social media ads may not be perceived as marketing. Further, the mere presence of Instagram features caused adolescents to rate food ads more positively than ads without Instagram features.

scholarly journals Prevalence of Child-Directed Marketing on Breakfast Cereal Packages before and after Chile’s Food Marketing Law: A Pre- and Post-Quantitative Content Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (22) ◽  
pp. 4501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernanda Mediano Stoltze ◽  
Marcela Reyes ◽  
Taillie Lindsey Smith ◽  
Teresa Correa ◽  
Camila Corvalán ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Childhood Obesity ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Food Marketing ◽  
Unhealthy Food ◽  
Breakfast Cereal ◽  
Health Organizations ◽  
Quantitative Content ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Marketing To Children

Food marketing has been identified as a contributing factor in childhood obesity, prompting global health organizations to recommend restrictions on unhealthy food marketing to children. Chile has responded to this recommendation with a restriction on child-directed marketing for products that exceed certain regulation-defined thresholds in sugars, saturated fats, sodium, or calories. Child-directed strategies are allowed for products that do not exceed these thresholds. To evaluate changes in marketing due to this restriction, we examined differences in the use of child-directed strategies on breakfast cereal packages that exceeded the defined thresholds vs. those that did not exceed the thresholds before (n = 168) and after (n = 153) the restriction was implemented. Photographs of cereal packages were taken from top supermarket chains in Santiago. Photographed cereals were classified as “high-in” if they exceeded any nutrient threshold described in the regulation. We found that the percentage of all cereal packages using child-directed strategies before implementation (36%) was significantly lower after implementation (21%), p < 0.05. This overall decrease is due to the decrease we found in the percentage of “high-in” cereals using child-directed strategies after implementation (43% before implementation, 15% after implementation), p < 0.05. In contrast, a greater percentage of packages that did not qualify as “high-in” used child-directed strategies after implementation (30%) compared with before implementation (8%), p < 0.05. The results suggest that the Chilean food marketing regulation can be effective at reducing the use of child-directed marketing for unhealthy food products.

Holding Food Companies Responsible for Unhealthy Food Marketing to Children: Can International Human Rights Instruments Provide a New Approach?

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Handsley ◽  
Belinda Reeve
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Food Marketing ◽  
Unhealthy Food ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
International Human ◽  
Marketing To Children

Public health advocates argue that unhealthy food marketing to children infringes children’s rights, given its link to obesity, and that states have an obligation under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (‘UNCRC’) to protect children from such marketing. This article explains how international human rights concepts could be used to impose obligations directly on companies to modify their practices to protect children from unhealthy food marketing. We draw on the global governance framework that creates human rights obligations for businesses, and evaluate voluntary codes and initiatives on responsible marketing to children in Australia, to see whether they satisfy the obligations imposed under this framework and the UNCRC. Finding significant limitations in these measures, we set out recommendations for how the food industry could take an approach to food marketing that places children’s best interests as a primary consideration.

scholarly journals Overabundance of unhealthy food advertising targeted to children on Guatemalan television

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 1331-1340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Lucia Cosenza-Quintana ◽  
Analí Morales-Juárez ◽  
Manuel Ramirez-Zea ◽  
Stefanie Vandevijvere ◽  
Maria F Kroker-Lobos
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
Unhealthy Food ◽  
Nutrient Profile ◽  
Food Advertisements ◽  
Food And Beverage ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Marketing To Children ◽  
First Time

Abstract To assess, for the first time, the extent (by hour channel) and nature (e.g. persuasive marketing techniques (PMT) and health-related claims) of unhealthy food advertisements (ads) targeted at children (3–11 years) on the six most-watched television (TV) channels in Guatemala. We recorded 864 h of video on the six most popular channels featuring children’s programmes. We classified food and beverage ads as permitted or non-permitted for marketing to children, according to the 2015 World Health Organisation (WHO) nutrient profile. Furthermore, we also analysed PMT (i.e. premium offers, promotional characters, brand benefit claims) and health-related claims. Most food ads (85%) were non-permitted to be marketed to children. Non-permitted food ads were six times more likely, either on weekdays or weekends, for all programme and channel categories compared with permitted food ads. There was no difference in the frequency of non-permitted food ads between peak and non-peak hours, weekend and weekdays or children and non-children programmes. PMT and health-related claims were present in all food ads (5.3 ± 1.9 techniques/claims per ad). There is a need to regulate food ads on TV channels featuring children’s programmes in Guatemala as a result of a high frequency of non-permitted food ads and extensive use of PMT together with health-related claims.

The UK Rules on Unhealthy Food Marketing to Children

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 270-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amandine GARDE ◽  
Sue DAVIES ◽  
Jane LANDON
Keyword(s):  
Food Marketing ◽  
Unhealthy Food ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Marketing To Children
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