Rudd Radar
Disney to Reduce Food Marketing to Children
June 5, 2012
Disney recently announced that food advertised to children on its many media platforms will have to meet new, healthier standards. The new guidelines, set to go into effect by 2015, are designed to promote the consumption of fruits and vegetables and to reduce the intake of sodium, sugar, and saturated fat.
In an interview with USA Today, Rudd Center Director, Kelly Brownell, PhD, said "This is a significant advance by Disney. With their reach and credibility, the tight nutrition standards they have set for specially designated foods will touch millions of children."
In 2011, 2 to 11 year-olds saw an average of 13 food and beverage advertisements per day, and adolescents ages 12-17 saw an average of 16 ads per day, according to The Rudd Report, “Trends in Television Food Advertising to Young People: 2011 Update.” The most common type of food advertisements viewed by kids were for fast food restaurants, cereals, casual sit-down restaurants, and candy. The new Disney standards would prohibit many of these types of food advertisements from being used on Disney-owned networks.
