• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, November 6, 2017

Despite progress due to self-regulatory efforts by major food companies, children (ages 2 to 14) are still seeing 10 to 11 food-related TV ads per day, on average — most of which promote “unhealthy products including fast food, candy, sweet and salty snacks, and sugary drinks.” 

Those are key findings from the latest study by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at the University of Connecticut, which monitors children’s exposure to food ads on TV and the internet, both from companies that participate in the voluntary Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) and non-participants.

Excerpts from the report:

The study finds that kids are viewing less food-related advertising, especially on children’s TV and the internet, since CFBAI launched in 2007. CFBAI participants pledged to shift the mix of foods advertised to children under 12 to encourage healthier dietary choices. 

Between 2007 and 2016, kids’ exposure to all food-related TV advertising — from both CFBAI participants and non-participants — declined by 4% for preschoolers (ages 2 to 5), 11% for children (6 to 11), and 14% for young teens (12 to 14), according to the report. 

The declines occurred despite a 7% increase in total food-related ad spending during the period and a 29% increase in TV ads viewed by adults ages 18 to 49. 

Much of the decline in food ads viewed by children on TV is due to less time watching TV. From 2013 to 2016, time spent watching TV declined by 15% among preschoolers, 20% among children, and 30% among young teens.

Less food advertising on children’s TV programming by CFBAI companies also contributed to the decline.

However, the number of food-related ads per hour of TV viewing increased — reaching 4.1 and 4.9 ads per hour in 2016 for children and young teens, respectively — because of increases in food advertising in programming that is not viewed primarily by children, but that children and young teens frequently watch. 

In addition, food advertising viewed by kids on children’s TV programs from companies not participating in CFBAI — mostly restaurants and candy companies — increased 36% among preschoolers and 27% among children between 2007 to 2016. 

Kids’ exposure to TV ads placed by non-participating fast food restaurants (for products excluding kids’ meals) on all types of TV programming increased by 95% for preschoolers and 61% for children, averaging almost two ads viewed per day. 

On the internet, the number of kids visiting popular CFBAI-company websites promoting children’s food brands declined by 80% or more between 2009 and 2016, and four of the most popular websites have been discontinued. 

However, CFBAI companies continue to engage in significant promotion on kid-directed sites, according to the report. These companies placed 93% of all food-related banner advertising viewed on third-party kids’ websites in 2016, totaling 473 million ad impressions.

Of course, websites aren’t the only way to reach kids online anymore. While Rudd doesn’t track social media for the studies, the researchers point out that most children’s food brands now sponsor popular and active social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and/or YouTube, point out the researchers.

Moreover, most CFBAI companies “have not responded to repeated calls from public health experts to further strengthen nutrition standards for products they identify as healthier dietary choices that can be advertised directly to children, expand the Initiative to cover children up to at least 14 years old, and expand the types of media covered by their pledges to include programming that children frequently view as well as all forms of marketing that appeal to children, such as mobile apps with branded games and YouTube videos,” says the report. 

“The food and beverage companies participating in the voluntary initiative should be recognized for actions they have taken to reduce advertising to children,” stated Jennifer Harris, director of marketing initiatives for the UConn Rudd Center and lead author of the study. “However, limitations in self-regulatory pledges allow companies to continue to advertise unhealthy products to children. Further, increased advertising by companies that do not participate in CFBAI has offset much of the reduction in advertising by CFBAI companies, and children continue to view thousands of TV ads per year for unhealthy food and drinks.”

The report was presented today at the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting in Atlanta.