Encouraging big food to do the right thing for children’s health
A case study on using research to improve marketing of sugary cereals
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15295773 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jennifer L Harris (0000-0002-2155-3021, Yale University), Megan E LoDolce (Yale University, corresponding author), Marlene B Schwartz (0000-0002-8939-1954, Yale University) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 320-332 |
| Publication date | 2014-09-25 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Critical Public Health (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0958-1596 • E-ISSN: 1469-3682 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09581596.2014.957655 |
| OpenAlex | W2016393718 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 19 |
Addressing concerns about unhealthy food marketing to children, food companies pledge to advertise only ‘healthier dietary choices’ in ‘child-directed media’. However, public health advocates question whether the food industry will voluntarily improve their child-targeted marketing practices in a meaningful way. In this paper, we evaluate progress made by manufacturers of one food category – ready-to-eat breakfast cereals – in promoting nutritious choices to children, and the potential role of scientific research to influence corporate behavior. Beginning in 2008, researchers at the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity conducted a series of studies to evaluate child-targeted marketing by cereal companies using a variety of research methods. We aimed to understand the extent and impact of cereal marketing to children; disseminate these findings to parents, the media, the public health community, policy-makers, and industry representatives; and encourage cereal companies to shift child-targeted marketing toward the more nutritious products in their portfolios. A follow-up analysis in 2012 demonstrated some improvements in the nutritional quality and marketing of child-targeted cereals, although child-targeted cereals remain the least healthy products in company portfolios. This analysis provides a case study of the potential for success, as well as the limitations, of a public health strategy to incent food companies to voluntarily improve child-targeted marketing practices through strategic research and communications
Business · Food marketing · Pledge · Political science · Public health · Public relations · Quality (philosophy · Consumer Attitudes and Food Labeling · Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology · Medicine · Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet · Marketing
Dietary Sugars Intake and Cardiovascular Health
US Food Company Branded Advergames on the Internet
Nutrition-related claims on children's cereals
Marketing foods to children and adolescents
Purchases of ready-to-eat cereals vary across US household sociodemographic categories according to nutritional value and advertising targets
Regulating and Litigating in the Public Interest
| Citations per year | 0.27 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2015 - 2019 (5) |
| Highly cited | No |