Television advertising and children: lessons from policy development

Abstract

Aim: To conduct a policy review of the regulations related to food advertising on television aimed at children. Design: The study consisted of documentary analysis of relevant legislation and policy documents related to children's advertising from both industry and nongovernmental organisations at a global level and in 20 countries. This was supported with semi-structured telephone interviews with individuals from 11 countries. Results: The initial findings resulted in a listing of regulatory impacts from which we developed a taxonomy of regulatory schemes. There was a tension between the development of legislation to cover this area and the use of voluntary agreements and codes. This tension represents a food industry/civic society split. The food and advertising industries are still engaged in a process of denying the impact of advertising on food choice and children as well as commissioning their own research. Outright bans are unusual, with most countries addressing the situation through voluntary agreements and self-regulation. We found a deep division over the way forward and the role and place of legislation. Policy-makers expressed concerns that national legislation was increasingly less relevant in dealing with broadcast media transmitted from outside national boundaries and therefore not subject to the receiving countries' laws but to the laws of the country from which they were transmitted. Conclusions: The options for the regulation of advertising targeted at children range from (1) a complete ban on advertising as in the case of Sweden, through (2) partial restrictions on advertising by type of food, target group or limits on the amount of advertisements or times shown, to (3) continuation of self-regulation by the advertising and food industries. There is a global dimension to regulation that needs to be built in, as national frontiers are no barriers to broadcast media and public health nutrition needs to ensure that its concerns are heard and addressed.

Television food advertising and the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity: a multicountry comparison

“…The effectiveness of efforts to stimulate industry self-regulation is also uncertain. Caraher et al (36) found large differences in the enforcement and monitoring of self-regulation in twenty countries and a lack of representation of public health and consumer groups on industry self-regulating bodies. Control and regulation can be implemented regionally, as some states in Australia are considering, but preferably need to be addressed at the national or international level.…”

Television food advertising to children: the extent and nature of exposure

“…An international study conducted in 1996 on television food advertising patterns indicated that Australia, the USA and the UK had the highest proportion of overall food advertisements, with 83, 98 and 79% of these food adverts, respectively, for sweet/fatty foods 9 . The question of whether food advertising to children should be more strongly regulated has been raised in several countries 13 . Children less than 8 years of age, in particular, are thought to lack the cognitive skills required to recognise an advertiser's persuasive intent and purpose 4,14 , and are therefore more at risk of commercial exploitation.…”

How do Vested Interests Maintain Outdated Policy? The Case of Food Marketing to New Zealand Children

“…Government policymakers generally had a low profile, until a policy window appeared when they swiftly revealed their preference for government intervention. Overall, it was difficult to determine the nature and extent of covert advocacy, particularly by the food industry, which is well known for such tactics in other countries [18,[53][54][55]. A request under the Official Information Act produced internal government documents.…”

“…Depending on how cogently industry has presented its views governments internationally have produced varied policies on television advertising to children. These range from complete bans as occurs in Sweden and Norway, to prohibitions in the United Kingdom on food and drink advertisements for less healthy food during children's viewing times [17], to total self regulation by the food and advertising industries in the United States and New Zealand [18]. In both these countries, industry funded institutions administer voluntary guidelines for the quantity and content of advertisements targeting children [8,19].…”