| Poor diet and obesity are significant public health challenges. Food marketing has been identified as a major driver of obesity [1], and policymakers in Norway, Quebec, Sweden, Finland, Australia, and the UK have imposed restrictions on childtargeted food marketing [2e5]. In the United States, few policies exist to restrict food marketing to youth. Twenty-seven states restrict food and beverages sold in schools [6e11], but there are few restrictions on marketing in schools. Although wellness policies have been implemented in all school districts under the Healthy, Hunger Free Kid Act of 2010 [11], most do not address advertising. Maine is the only state that prohibits advertising certain foods and beverages in school settings (e.g., athletic scoreboards) [6,8]. More recently, several cities have either proposed or passed legislation to limit inclusion of toys in children’s meals at fast food restaurants [12]. Although there has been growing interest in curbing child-targeted food marketing, the food industry’s use of sports in product promotion has flown largely under the radar. Sports-related food marketing includes sponsorships (i.e., partnerships between food and beverage companies and professional, local, or youth sports organizations), athlete endorsements of food and beverages, and the use of food and beverage company logos and spokescharacters (e.g., “Red” the M&M) in sports video games. These partnerships are promoted through commercials, sporting events, in stores, and online, and food companies spend millions of dollars on these sports-related marketing tools. Although food marketing can be used to promote healthy foods and beverages, the majority of food advertisements are for energy-dense, nutrient-poor products [13e15]. In the United States, food companies spend $1.6 billion annually to reach youth through various avenues including television, the Internet, radio, packaging, in-store promotions, video games, and text messages [16]. Food companies are motivated to target youth because they collectively spend $200 billion annually and indirectly influence $200 billion in additional spending [1]. Children are viewed as integral to their business because they represent the next generation of consumers and because food and brand preferences can be shaped early. A common claim made by the food industry is that consumers make the decision about what kinds of product categories they would like to buy and advertisements simply help to develop and sustain brand loyalty or entice consumers to switch brands [17]. But research shows that food advertisements can do much more. They can lead to increased food consumption, even when the food consumed differs from the advertised food [18e21]. An Institute of Medicine report on the effects of food marketing on youth concluded that the majority of advertised food is unhealthy and that food marketing influences children’s preferences and purchases requests, short-term consumption, diet overall, and by extension, health problems [1]. Researchers hypothesize that food marketing themes may appeal to youth partly because they focus on the innate desires of adolescents, such as a desire for social status and value and a sense of independence, while highly palatable ingredients positively reinforce consumption [22,23]. |
