First Analysis of Online Food Advertising Targeting Children

Concerned about the high rates of childhood obesity in the U.S., policymakers in Congress, the Federal Trade Commission and agencies such as the Institute of Medicine have explored a variety of potential contributing factors, including the marketing and advertising of food products to children. One area where policymakers have expressed interest, but have also noted a lack of publicly available data, is in the realm of online food marketing to children.

The Kaiser Family Foundation released the first comprehensive analysis of the nature and scope of online food advertising to children to help inform policymakers, advocates and industry experts. The report, It’s Child’s Play: Advergaming and the Online Marketing of Food to Children, found that more than eight out of ten (85%) of the top food brands that target children through TV advertising also use branded websites to market to children online.

This report was released at a forum on Wednesday, July 19, 2006, in Washington, D.C., that included a roundtable discussion featuring food industry leaders, government health officials and consumer advocates.

icon_news_release.gifNews Release

Report: It’s Child’s Play: Advergaming and the Online Marketing of Food to Children

icon_reports_studies.gifExecutive Summary: It’s Child’s Play: Advergaming and the Online Marketing of Food to Children

Webcast Materials:

icon_reports_studies.gifAgenda (.pdf)

icon_reports_studies.gifPresentation (.pdf)

icon_reports_studies.gifSpeaker Biographies (.pdf)

icon_reports_studies.gifTranscript (.pdf)

View Webcast:

Please note: the video is no longer available. If you have an urgent need for the video, you may contact us (choose “problem with video” on the form) and we will try to locate the video. Include the URL for this page in your message to us.

KFF Headquarters: 185 Berry St., Suite 2000, San Francisco, CA 94107 | Phone 650-854-9400
Washington Offices and Barbara Jordan Conference Center: 1330 G Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005 | Phone 202-347-5270

www.kff.org | Email Alerts: kff.org/email | facebook.com/KFF | twitter.com/kff

The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news, KFF is a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California.