Food and Beverage Marketing in Schools: Putting Student Health at the Head of the Class.

Children and adolescents in the United States consume too many calories, including empty calories from foods and beverages high in sugar and saturated fat, placing them at risk for obesity and obesity-related diseases including type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and cancer.(1-3) Yet food companies continue to directly target young people with marketing for products that contribute to poor health. They spend $1.8 billion annually in youth-targeted marketing,with
the promotion of fast food, sugary drinks, sugary breakfast cereals, and candy accounting for 90% of these expenditures.(4) Although companies have promised to market healthier choices to children younger than 12 years of age, there have been few improvements in the overall landscape of food marketed to children.(5) In addition, companies continue to view children 12 years of age and older as an important target market and outside the scope of current self-regulatory initiatives.(6)

References :

1. Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Kit BK, Flegal KM. Prevalence of obesity and trends in body mass index among US children and adolescents, 1999-2010. JAMA. 2012;307(5):483-490.
2. Malik VS, Schulze MB, Hu FB. Intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain: a systematic review. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006;84(2):274-288.
3. Reedy J, Krebs-Smith SM. Dietary sources of energy, solid fats, and added sugars among children and adolescents in the United States. J AmDiet Assoc. 2010;110(10):1477-1484.
4. Federal Trade Commission. A review of food marketing to children and adolescents—follow-up report. Federal Trade Commission website. http://www.ftc.gov/reports/review-food-marketing-children-adolescents-follow-report.
Published December 2012. Accessed December 17, 2013.
5. Powell LM, Harris JL, Fox T. Food marketing expenditures aimed at youth: putting the numbers in context. Am J Prev Med. 2013;45(4):453-461.
6. Council of Better Business Bureaus. Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative: program and core principles statement. http://www.bbb.org/us/storage/0/Shared%20Documents/Enhanced%20Core%20Principles%20Third%20Edition%20-%20Letterhead.pdf. Published September 2010. Accessed December 17, 2013.