Study: 80% of Nickelodeon ads are for junk food
TMC
(CBS) Nickelodeon may be a kid-friendly network, but when it comes to
nutrition they are serving up the wrong ads.
According to an analysis conducted by the Center for Science in the
Public Interest (CSPI), "nearly 80 percent of food ads on the popular
children's network Nickelodeon are for foods of poor nutritional
quality."
During an obesity epidemic in the United States, it's hard enough for
parents to control what their children are eating - and the group says
airing a lot of junk food ads on Nickelodeon doesn't help.
Although the findings show a modest drop from about 90 percent in
2005, it's not significant enough to make a dent.
The CSPI points out that between the 2005 and 2009 studies, the food
industry instituted a self-regulatory program through the Council of
Better Business Bureaus, the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising
Initiative (CFBAI).
But for junk food lovers, self-regulation doesn't always work.
CSPI took a closer look at the practices of the food companies that
participate in that self-regulatory program.
They found that "of the 452 foods and beverages that companies say are
acceptable to market to children, that 267, (or nearly 60 percent), do
not meet CSPI’s recommended nutrition standards for food marketing to
children."
The list includes: General Mills’ Cookie Crisp and Reese’s Puffs
cereals, Kellogg Apple Jacks and Cocoa Krispies cereals, Kellogg Rice
Krispies Treats, Campbell’s Goldfish crackers and SpaghettiOs, Kraft
Macaroni & Cheese, and many Unilever Popsicles.
"While industry self-regulation is providing some useful benchmarks,
it’s clearly not shielding children from junk food advertising, on
Nick and elsewhere," said CSPI nutrition policy director Margo G.
Wootan. "It’s a modest start, but not sufficient to address children’s
poor eating habits and the sky-high rates of childhood obesity."
Puddings, cookies, or fruit-flavored snacks don't meet CSPI's
nutrition standards - but they are fans of yogurt. Seventy-three
percent of yogurts were up to par.
Other foods that meet CSPI's standards include:
•Nabisco Teddy Grahams
•Kellogg Frosted Mini-Wheats
•Kellogg Eggo Waffles
•Several Kid Cuisine frozen dinners
•Only three of 47 Kraft-approved products
•One of eight McDonald’s-approved meals, and 22 of 86 General Mills-
approved products
•Burger King only identified one meal as appropriate to market to
children at the time of the study
•A Kids Meal with Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, apple fries with caramel
sauce, and a Hershey's 1 percent milk
Other foods that don't meet CSPI's standards include:
•Fruit drinks, often high in sugar with little fruit juice as well as
high-fat milk
•PepsiCo's 10 products that they say are appropriate to market to
children
•CSPI also has urged Chuck E. Cheese’s, IHOP restaurants, Topps Candy,
Yum! Brands (which owns KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut) and Perfetti van
Melle (maker of Air Heads candy) to join the CFBAI.
•Four companies that belong to the CFBAI (Coca-Cola, Hershey’s, Mars,
and Cadbury Adams) state that they do not advertise any products to
children (according to the CBBB definition).
According to CSPI, a fourth of the food ads on Nickelodeon were from
companies that don’t participate in the industry’s self-regulatory
program.
"Almost none of those ads were for foods that met CSPI’s nutrition
standards, and only 28 percent of the ads from companies in the CBBB
Initiative met them," CSPI said.
In 2006, the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine also jumped on
the health food bandwagon. It recommended that food and media
companies should market healthier foods to youth within two years.
Other organizations have nutrition standards for foods marketed to
children in the works, including: an Interagency Working Group on Food
Marketed to Children, representatives from the Federal Trade
Commission, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food
and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
These soon-to-be-defined nutrition standards are expected in July of
2010, and CSPI is urging the Council of Better Business Bureaus to
adopt them for the CFBAI.
"Nickelodeon should be ashamed that it earns so much money from
carrying commercials that promote obesity, diabetes, and other health
problems in young children," Wootan said. "If media and food companies
don’t do a better job exercising corporate responsibility when they
market foods to children, Congress and the FTC will need to step in to
protect kids’ health."