Teen Opinions Matter

Food advertising aimed at children must be restricted

A little dirty blonde boy stares with his eyes wide open at the screen of his T.V. The commercial advertises athletic kids at a sports camp eating crunchy flakes perfectly coated with sweet frosting as a great part of a nutritious breakfast . . . They’re GREAT! The little boy, without removing his big eyes from the display, yells “Mommy Mommy! I want Frosted Flakes!” He had been trying to make the local little league team and, since the sporty kids on the screen liked it, he wanted it too! What he didn’t know and what wasn’t advertised was that the cereal wasn’t “GREAT” for him, and was never intended to be. Food advertisements are often targeted at children. The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies “concluded that food marketing influences children’s food preferences, consumption, and health.” Also, according to The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the majority of “products introduced and marketed to children and youth have been high in total calories, sugars, salt, and fat, and low in nutrients.” The combination of advertisements power over children’s diet and health and the fact that most commercials advertise completely unhealthy products have resulted in a huge obesity problem among children in the United States. Food advertising aimed at children must be restricted. Some may not think it’s possible to stop advertising foods that aren’t healthy for children. However, Disney, the biggest name in children’s entertainment, did just that in 2015. The New York Times elaborated on this; “The Walt Disney Company . . . announced . . . that all products advertised on its child-focused [media] must comply with a strict new set of nutritional standards.” The New York Times states that with these new rules, “products like Capri Sun drinks and Kraft Lunchables meals . . . along with a wide range of candy, sugared cereal and fast food, will no longer be acceptable advertising material.” Disney, a huge and well-known company, took a stand against the major issue of food advertising that targets children. Disney’s chairman, Robert Iger, said that “‘companies in a position to help with solutions to childhood obesity should do just that.'” Disney recognized the issue of obesity among children and was willing to act despite the consequences. The New York Times says “Disney acknowledged it would most likely lose some advertising revenue . . . but said that the benefits outweighed the downside.” The director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Margo Wootan, said “Disney’s plan put it ‘far ahead of competitors.'” The New York Times believes these choices “polish [Disney’s] brand as one families can trust — something that drives sales of everything.” Even though they may have lost some profits in advertising, Disney has benefited from their noble decision through their consumers’ newly ensured trust in the brand. The first lady at the time, Michelle Obama, applauded Disney with the words “Disney is doing what no major media company has ever done before in the U.S. — and what I hope every company will do going forward.” Disney was willing to take a stand against advertisers, and will hopefully be a catalyst for the future. It may seem like kids don’t have influence over their parents’ decisions; this has been proved false. The Association for Consumer Research shows “when [children] asked for particular food items such as cereal, snack food, or candy, parents complied about 75% of the time.” This means that 3 out of 4 times, children get the food that they want. Advertisers are completely aware of this, this is why “advertisers spend some $950 million annually on television tailored to children under 12,” according to The New York Times. Science Direct states that “[during] Saturday morning children’s television programming . . . ready-to-eat breakfast cereal and cereal bars [were] 27% of all food advertisements, and snack foods [were] 18% of food advertisements. Ninety-one percent of food advertisements were . . . high in fat, sodium, or added sugars or were low in nutrients.” Children are less aware of advertisers’ selfish intentions compared to adults, so they are easier to dupe. Advertisers know children have an influence on their families’ purchases, so they advertise to children the things they’re most likely to ask for, unhealthy, sugar-filled items. In the U.S., obesity among children is a terrible epidemic. Public Med describes obesity as “a chronic disease that is strongly associated with . . . certain types of cancer, [heart] disease, disability, [diabetes], hypertension, [arthritis], and stroke.” This disease is often fatal and, according to ERIC.gov, “in 2007-2008 almost 17% of children and adolescents aged 2-19 years were obese.” Nearly ⅕ of children are obese, and the Health Policy Institute for Georgetown University states that “between 70 and 80 percent of obese adolescents remain obese in adulthood,” so the obese children now will likely be the obese adults of the future. Though limiting advertisements is what’s right for the populace, laws forcing advertisers to do so violates Americans’ first amendment rights, freedom of speech and freedom of press. Even though advertisers can’t be legally forced to stop, they should realize their major contribution to this country-wide epidemic and think with their customers in mind. Obesity is a major problem among youth in the U.S., and this needs to be recognized in order to be solved. So many children fall into the trap presented by food advertisements. Food commercials targeting kids need to be limited. This year, Sally Davies, the previous Chief Medical Officer in England, took many data collections and created an independent report called “Time to Solve Childhood Obesity.” It states “as a society, we know that . . . children have a right to live in a healthy environment [though] our environment has slowly changed, making it harder for our children to be healthy.” Her report explains, “many actions, each with a small impact, will be necessary to reverse the rise in obesity.” In response to this research, CNBC states the “Industry [backlashed].” Some efforts are being made to solve the major issue that food advertisements represent, but the industry still needs to recognize their part in the issue. To quote a revolutionary, humanitarian, and the previous president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, “Children are our greatest treasure. They are our future.” So I ask, why do we damage our future?