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Big Food vs. Little Kids:

The real story behind food marketing toThe real story behind food marketing to children and what parents can do

Marlene B. Schwartz, Ph.D.Deputy Director

Rudd Center for Food Policy and ObesityRudd Center for Food Policy and ObesityNew Jersey, December 2012

Key Questions

Why is food marketing to children such Why is food marketing to children such a big deal?

How much marketing is there?

How has the food industry responded to concerns?concerns?

What can parent advocates do?

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Does marketing work?

Do you think others are affected by advertising?

Do you think you are affected by advertising?

Very Much Somewhat Not at all

Very Much Somewhat Not at allVery Much Somewhat Not at all

Very Much Somewhat Not at all

Others are affected: I am affected

42

50

42% 58%

7%

66%

19%

%0%

66%

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Corn Syrup, Sugar, Apple Pure Concentrate, Water, Modified Corn Starch, Gelatin, Contains Two Percent Or Less Of Citric Acid, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Natural And Artificial Flavor, Color Added, Coconut Oil, Carnauba Wax, Yellow #5, Red #40, Sodium Citrate, Blue #1.

“Silly Rabbit, ______________!”

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“I go cuckoo for _________.”

“They’re magically _______________!”

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“Have it your __________!”

“Melts in your mouth, ______________”

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Why care about food marketing?

2005 Institute of Medicine Report– “Marketing works”– Must be addressed as part of the effort to

reverse childhood obesity rate

Food industry says they are just trying to sell their brands, not increase ,consumption overall

Types of food marketing directed at children

Television Radio Billboards Video/computer games InternetInternet Social media Schools

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$1 6 billion per year

Television commercials

$1.6 billion per year

Children see an average of 15 food commercials every single day

Most frequently for:– sugary cerealsugary cereal

– fast food

– sugary drinks

– candy

Parents vs. Industry

Industry commercials Parental messages Industry commercials

15 per day

7 days a week

15 x 365

Parental messages

Three meals a day

7 days a week

3 x 365

Fi l d fFinal end of year score:Mom: 1,095

Madison Avenue: 5,475

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Theory

Exposure to food advertising “primes” Exposure to food advertising primesautomatic eating behavior

Harris, Bargh & Brownell (2009). Priming effects of television food advertising on eating behavior. Health Psychology. 28: 404-413

Children (aged 7-11)

Watched cartoon with food commercials

Watched cartoon with non-food commercials

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Children (aged 7-11)

Watched cartoon with food commercials

Watched cartoon with non-food commercials

30.4 grams 19.5

grams45% grams45% difference

Exposure to advertising is associated with diet

National sample of 5th graders National sample of 5th graders

Calculated exposure to TV ads for fast food and soft drinks using Nielsen data

Significantly associated with overall fast food and soft drink consumptionp

Andreyeva, T., Kelly, I.R. & Harris, J.L. (2010). Exposure to food advertising on television: Associations with children’s fast food and soft drink consumption.

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Product placement 2008 Nielsen data 35,000 food brand appearances on prime

time TV Most common: soft drinks and restaurants Average child saw Coca-cola 198 times Average adolescent: 269 timesg Compared to 20 and 37 TV ads for Coke

Speers SE, Harris JL, Schwartz MB. Child and adolescent exposure to food and beverage brand appearances during prime-time television programming. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2011 Sept.

Product placement

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Online marketing

Company websites Company websites

Banner ads

Advergames

Facebook

Twitter Twitter

Instagram

InternetBanner Ads

Brand Websites

Virtual Worlds

Social Media

Advergames

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Preschooler websites

Advergaming

Blurs the line between entertainment and d ti tadvertisement

2009 data from ComScore Media Metrix

39 food company sites with advergames

1.2 million unique child visitors and 35 pages visited per monthvisited per month

Most common foods: candy, cereal, fast food

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Unhealthy Healthy Control

Harris, Speers, Schwartz & Brownell (2012) Food company branded advergames on the internet: Children’s exposure and effects on snack consumption Journal of Children and Media.

Unhealthy Healthy Control

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75 grams

86 grams

57 grams

ControlHealthy Unhealthy

28 grams

21 grams

31 grams

Licensed characters

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Effects of licensed characters

Roberto, Baik, Harris, Brownell. Pediatrics. 2010

Children’s preferences

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Children’s preferences

Children’s preferences

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Critical question

How?FoodAds

UnhealthyDiet

Rational processing

Information processing approachp g pp

InformationUnhealthyChoices

ExplicitBeliefs andAttitudes

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Rational Solutions

Inoculate children Inoculate children Limit exposure until “old enough”

to process information Media literacy

N t iti d ti Nutrition education Make eating well fun and exciting

Emotional processing

“The more emotions dominate overThe more emotions dominate over rational messaging, the bigger the business effects. The most effective advertisements of all are those with little or no rational content.”

– From analysis of 880 ad campaigns

Binet, Field. Journal of Advertising Research. 2009.

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Emotional processing

AdEnjoyment

PositiveAssociations

ExplicitBeliefs andAttitudes

Why it’s hard to inoculate your child from food marketing

Brands are forming relationships with our children

It is less about providing information to a consumer to make choices and morea consumer to make choices and more about eliciting a positive emotional response

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Focus on brand and toy

Focus on brand and toy

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Encourage repeat visits

Purchase incentives

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Cereals marketed t hildto children were: • Higher calorie• Higher sugar• Higher sodium• Lower fiber• Lower proteinLower protein

“Food does not become nutrition until it is eaten.”

Letter to the editor of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association from Celeste Clark, Ph.D. Senior Vice President, Global Nutrition and Corporate Affairs, Kellogg Company and Susan J. Crockett, Ph.D., R.D. Vice President, Senior Technology Office, Health and Nutrition, General Mills

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“Children like the taste of readyChildren like the taste of ready-to-eat cereals and are therefore more likely to eat breakfast.”Letter to the editor of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association from Celeste Clark, Ph.D. Senior Vice President, Global Nutrition and Corporate Affairs, Kellogg Company and Susan J. Crockett, Ph.D., R.D. Vice President, Senior Technology Office, Health and Nutrition, General Mills

www.CerealFacts.org

For all cereal brands, we dcompared

nutrition scores to the amount of marketing to children

Jennifer L. Harris, PhD, MBA

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TVAdvertising

Adver-gaming

Other YouthWebsites

Bunnies

EnviroKids Organic

The Best Dozen

Life

Hannah Montana

Clifford Crunch

Puffins

Cheerios

Kix NoneClifford Crunch

Mighty Bites

Honey Sunshine

Mini Wheats

Organic Wild Puffs

TVAdvertising

Adver-gaming

Other YouthWebsites

x x x

x x x

Reese’s Puffs

Corn Pops

The Worst Dozen

x

x x x

x x x

x x x

Cap’n Crunch

Count Chocula

Trix

Lucky Charms

Golden Grahams

Cinnamon Toast Crunch

x x x

x x x

x x

Trix

Froot Loops

Smorz

Cocoa Puffs

Fruity/Cocoa Pebbles x x x

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The influence of pre-sweetened cereal onsweetened cereal on children’s breakfast

consumption

Sugar content per serving

6

8

10

12

14

ms

of

su

ga

r

Rice K i i

FrostedFlakes

CocoaPebbles

FrootLoops

0

2

4

Cereal Brand

Gra

m

Cheerios

KrispiesCorn

Flakes

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Key Questions

How does consumption of high- vs. low-sugar cereals differ?sugar cereals differ?

Will children compensate for the lack of sugar in low-sugar cereals by adding table sugar?

How does overall cereal, sugar, fruit, juice, and milk consumption vary as a function of

l t ?cereal type?

Procedure Randomly assigned to condition Chose one of the three possible cereals Given entire box (326 g) to pour Also given

– 1% low-fat milk (245 g)– orange juice (190 g)– cut strawberries (140 g) and bananas (111 g)

packets of table sugar– packets of table sugar

Instructed to eat as much or as little as they liked

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Will children eat low-sugar cereals?

Percent of children who refused to take Percent of children who refused to take cereal or eat low-sugar cereal: 0%

Children like the taste of low-sugar cereals

1 2 3 4 5

High-sugar cereal average: 1.45

Low-sugar cereal average: 1.63

No significant difference

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Grams consumed from cereal and sugar

80

Cereal (less sugar content) Sugar in cereal Sugar from packets

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Gra

ms

0

10

(n = 19) (n = 14) (n = 24) (n = 29)

High sugar Low sugar High sugar Low sugar

5-7 years 5-7 years 8-12 years 8-12 years

Grams consumed from cereal and sugar

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Cereal (less sugar content) Sugar in cereal Sugar from packets

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Gra

ms

Recommended Serving Size = 30 grams

0

10

(n = 19) (n = 14) (n = 24) (n = 29)

High sugar Low sugar High sugar Low sugar

5-7 years 5-7 years 8-12 years 8-12 years

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More refined sugar (24 g vs 13 g) More refined sugar (24 g vs. 13 g)

Comparable calories (345 vs. 383)

Comparable milk consumption (2/3 cup)

Less likely to put fruit on cereal 8% in high sugar condition– 8% in high-sugar condition

– 54% in low-sugar condition

Conclusions

Children will eat low sugar cereals when Children will eat low-sugar cereals when they are available

When eating low-sugar cereals, children eat the appropriate amount of cereal, less sugar, more fruit, and comparable milk and calories

Harris, Schwartz, Usjanauskas, Ohri-Vachaspati, Brownell (2011) Effects of serving high-sugar cereals on children’s breakfast-eating behavior. Pediatrics, 127, 71-76

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General Mills Press Releases December 2009 & 2010

Big G “committed to continuing to reduce sugar” to single-digit levels per serving

“We are making real progress,” said Jeff Harmening, president of General Mills’ Big G cereal division “We think consumers will becereal division. We think consumers will be very pleased, because we are reducing sugar and our cereals still taste great.

“Post Foods to cut some cereals' sugar content”

Associated Press; December 23, 2010

“Starting next month Post Foods LLC will reduce the sugar content of its Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles cereals in order to provider a healthier food option for children.”

“The cereal maker…is the latest in a series of food companies to address the increasing nutritional concerns of consumers and their heightened awareness about childhood obesity.”

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For top fast

www.FastFoodMarketing.org

pfood restaurants, we compared nutrition scores to the amount ofto the amount of marketing to children

Fast Food Key Findings

Fast food industry spent more than $4.2 billion dollars in 2009

Average number of ads seen per day

– Preschoolers - nearly 3

– Children - 3 5Children 3.5

– Teens - nearly 5

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Children request fast food

• 84% of parents report taking their child to a fast food restaurant at least once the past week

• No longer a “special treat”• 40% of parents - child asks to go to

M D ld’ t l t kMcDonald’s at least once a week

• 15% of preschoolers ask to go McDonalds every day

The “kid’s meal” landscape

• 1979: Happy Meal introduced

• Today, most fast food restaurants offer a special children’s menu

• Calculated nutrition quality

• Out of 3,039 possible kids’ meals combinations…

15 met nutrition criteria for children

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McDonald’s told us “We have healthy McDonald s told us, We have healthy choices like apples and milk.”

We asked, “Why don’t you provide them as the default?”

Sales Practices Audit• June 2010• 250 restaurants national sample

• 50 each: McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell and Subway

• Field personnel request children’s meal • Hamburger / beef taco / roast beef sandwich

• Side and beverage provided automaticallySide and beverage provided automatically• If given a choice, bought the first item offered

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Offered no choice of side

Offered no choice of beverage

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Beverages• Subway – specifically offers milk,

flavored milk or juiceflavored milk, or juice

• Taco Bell, Dairy Queen, KFC kids menus• Do not include milk

• Do not include100% juiceDo not include100% juice

• All choices have added sugar or artificial sweeteners, except unsweetened tea and water

Recommendations

• Only serve milk (or 100% juice) with• Only serve milk (or 100% juice) with children’s meals

• Provide healthy sides as the default, or at least offer the healthy sides first

• More main dishes low in saturated fat

• Reduce sodium in main dishes and sides

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July 13, 2011

Restaurants to offer more healthful Restaurants to offer more healthful fare for kidsLA Times

Nineteen chains — including Burger King, Denny's, IHOP, Chili's, Friendly's, Chevy's and El Pollo Loco — have agreed to participate in the Kids Live Well initiative as worries increase about the role of fast food in childhood obesity

Burger King• Stop automatically including French fries

and soda in kids' mealsand soda in kids meals

• Employees ask parents whether they prefer such options as milk or sliced apples before assembling the meals

• "We're asking the customers to specify what they want " said Craig Prusher vicewhat they want, said Craig Prusher, vice president of government relations.

• Fries and soft drinks are "no longer a default decision”

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July 26, 2011

New York Times

McDonald’s Trims Its Happy Meal

“Bowing to pressure from health advocates and parents, McDonald’s is p ,putting the Happy Meal on a diet.

Half french fries, half apples is default

Optimal Defaults at Disney World

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Children’s brands: Fruit drinks, Flavored water

Brands with children’s varieties: Sports drinks, Iced tea

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How many teaspoons of sugar are appropriate for a child’s drink?

Teaspoons Percent of parentsTeaspoons Percent of parents

Zero 17%

One 39%

Two 28%

Three 9%Three 9%

Four or more 7%

84% say two or fewer

Nutrient Analysis: Full-calorie versions (not “diet” or “light”)

Median calories

Median sugar (g) 7 5g (g)

Regular soda 110 30

Energy drinks 110 27

Fruit drinks 110 27

7.5 teaspoons

6.75 teaspoonsIced tea 73 19

Sports drinks 50 14

Flavored water 50 13

teaspoons

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Child-directed vs. Non child-directed brands

Smaller serving sizes Smaller serving sizes– 6.8 ounces vs. 8 ounces

Fewer grams of sugar per serving– 16 g vs. 21 g

Comparable sugar g / liquid ounce ratiop g g q– 2.4 to 2.6

More artificial colors: 60% vs. 25%

More artificial sweeteners: 40% vs. 25%

Nutrient claims on child-directed fruit drinks

79% of packages had claims

Usually more than one (mean = 1.7)

68% had “Natural” claims

Other common claims– Vitamins, Calcium, Less sugar

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Artificial Flavored Juice Drink

Tropical Punch – but only contains apple juice

• 7 oz.• No artificial sweeteners• 24 grams of sugar

100% DV Vitamin CPhysical activity message

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No artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives

25% less sugar than other leading juice

drinks

• 6 oz.• 16 grams of sugar• No artificial sweeteners

No artificial sweeteners

Reduced sugarGood source of Vitamin E

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“No artificial colors or flavors”

“No artificial colors or flavors”

• 6 oz.• 7 grams of sugar• Artificial sweeteners

Water beverage – even though it features fruit

“Flavored with other natural flavor”

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Children’s Food and BeveragesAdvertising Initiative (CFBAI)

Initiated in 2006

Voluntary self-regulation program

Goal is to “shift the mix of foods advertised to children under 12 to

h lthi di t h i dencourage healthier dietary choices and healthy lifestyles”

What positive steps have CFBAI

companies taken?

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Updates to CFBAI Uniform nutrition

criteria developed (implemented 2014)

17 companies

4 do not market to children under 12 at all

CFBAI new nutrition standards

No longer allow “reduced” claim to qualify as better-for-you

No longer allow 100 calorie packs to be better-for-you regardless of food

Calorie limits for all categories

Nutrients to Limit (sat fat, trans fast, sodium and total sugar) and Nutrients to Encourage for all categories

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CFBAI marketing includes

Ads on mobile media (cell and smartphones)

Ads on video games rated “early childhood” or “child directed”

Ads on DVDs of child-directed G rated imovies

Word of mouth advertising that is primarily child directed

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CFBAI marketing includes

Licensed characters Licensed characters

Movie tie-ins

Celebrity use

Product placement in child-directed program / editorial contentprogram / editorial content

Schools

Not included in any of the industry self Not included in any of the industry self-regulation pledges

Educational materials

Reward and incentive programs

Fundraising Fundraising

Sales of branded products in schools

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Educational materials and fundraising help

Many states considering ads on school buses

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l dd t

Thank you!

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