Marketing 'unhealthy' foods to children Self-regulation prevails (for now)

摘要

Ever since the obesity epidemic went through the roof, every related issue has become a hot topic. The same applies to advertising - or marketing in general - of 'unhealthy' food and drink products to children. There are different solutions to curb the alleged influence of advertising on minors. For the time being, self-regulation seems to be the answer. This article concentrates on television advertising, as this channel takes up by far the largest part of the advertising expenditures for food and drink products. First of all, are there any effects of television advertising on children, and if there are, what are they? In their literature review entitled Advertising foods to children, the authors Livingstone and Helsper state that there is littie research that relates media factors directly to obesity. However, "the balance of evidence [..] shows that television advertising has a modest, direct effect [see it, buy it, LJ] on children's food choices. Although there remains much scope for debate, this conclusion is widely accepted across diverse positions and stakeholders." The two authors conclude that, besides direct effects, substantial indirect effects occur (in concurrence with other factors, such as parenting). However, there does not seem to be sufficient evidence to back this up.