1. Food and Beverage Marketing Directed at Children in Canada and in Quebec: An Update on the Evidence Monique Potvin Kent PhD Institute of Population Health University of Ottawa Ottawa, ON, Canada May 4, 2011

2. The Relationship Between Obesity, Food Intake and Food Marketing in Children Commercial food advertising aimed at children directly affects:  Food preferences  Short term consumption patterns  Food purchase requests Associated with obesity

3. Childhood Obesity in Canada

4. Children’s Food Intake in Canada Food intake of Canadian children does not meet nutritional guidelines (4-18 year olds)  Fruit, vegetable and milk consumption  Snacks = 27% of daily food intake  22% of calories consumed from foods not recommended

5. Policy Context Canada Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children and its Code Interpretation Guidelines Station-specific policies Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative Quebec Consumer Protection Act  Bans commercial advertising of products exclusively designed for children or that appeal to children under 13 years  Applies when children consist of 15% of audience

6. Advertisement Directed at Children Under 13 years

7. Advertisement Not Directed at Children under 13 Years

8. Research in Canada/Quebec on Children’s Exposure to Food Marketing on Television Canada  Kelly et al. (2010)  Adams et al. (2009)  Adams et al. (2009b) Quebec  Laperrière (2009)  Lebel (2005)  High level of food advertising  Ontario 3 food ads/hour/channel  Quebec 4 food ads/hour/channel  Alberta 7 food ads/hour/channel  Nutritional quality is poor

9. Main Objective to examine the influence of two methods of regulating advertising to children:  Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative  Consumer Protection Act

10. Research Questions Study 1: Frequency of food promotions Ontario English Quebec French Quebec English Study 2: Healthfulness of food promotions Ontario English Quebec French Quebec English Study 3: Frequency and healthfulness of food promotions CAI (English) Non-CAI (English)

11. Methods Content Analysis Study 1 & 2: 90 hours (English and French) Study 3: 99.5 hours (English) Children’s Preferred Viewing Television viewing diary completed for 7 days 32 television stations taped simultaneously (6am –12 am) Subjects 18 schools N= 428 children aged 10 to 12 ON ENG = 225 QUE FR = 156 QUE ENG = 47

12. Methods  Content Analysis (Studies 1,2,3) Type and length Type of food or beverage Target audience (Study 1) Use of media characters (Studies 1 and 3)  Nutritional analysis of all food promotions (Studies 2,3) Macronutrients According to recommendations Categorization according to the U.K. Nutrient Profile Model  Classification of each advertisement by CAI/non-CAI (Study 3)

13. Frequency of Food/Beverage Promotions by Province/Language (n) * p <.05

14. Target Audience (%) of Food and Beverage Advertisements

15. Media Characters (%) in Food and Beverage Advertisements

16. Frequency of Advertised Food/Beverages by Food Category (n) * p <.01

17. Most Frequently Advertised Food Categories by Group Ontario EnglishQuebec FrenchQuebec English Candy, gum, fruit rolls (23%) Yogurt drinks (15%)Candy, gum, fruit rolls (25%) Cold cereal (11%)Yogurt (15%)Milk (12%) Fast food restaurants (10%) Candy, gum, fruit rolls (12%) Fast food restaurants (9%) Milk (9%)Fast food restaurants (9%) Prepared foods (8%) Cheese, cheese sticks (7%) Granola bars and cereal bars (8%)

18. Average Nutrients per 100 g of Advertised Food/Beverages * p >.001

19. Healthfulness of Food/Beverage Ads by Province/Language Groups (%) * p <.001

20. Results Study 3: Food and Beverage Promotions by CAI and non-CAI (n) (99.5 hrs) * p <.01

21. Repeat Promotions during 87.5 hrs CAINon-CAI Product/Brand No. of RepeatsProduct/Brand No. of Repeats Candy and snacks Oreo Cookies12Baby Bottle Pop13 Gushers Fruit Snacks11Ring Pop13 Hubba Bubba products15 Hubba Bubba Glop18 Rice Krispies Squares Bars18 Sponge Bob Fruit Snacks28 BeveragesYoplait Yop10 RestaurantsMcDonald’s: Happy Meal32Chuck E Cheese11 DairyCheestrings17Milk36 Prepared Foods Kraft Dinner Original33

22. Results: Presence of Media Characters (n) * p <.001 87.5 hrs children’s stations

23. Promoted Foods and Beverages by Food Category (%) (99.5 hrs) CAINon-CAI * p <.001

24. Average Nutrients Per 100g of Food/Beverages * p <.01

25. Healthfulness of Food/Beverage Promotions Classified by UK Nutrient Profile Model (%) * p <.001

26. Policy Implications: Quebec POLICYINFLUENCELACK OF INFLUENCE Consumer Protection Act Fewer contests and sponsorship announcements More beverages, fewer candy/snacks, and breakfast cereals Children targeted less often Media characters used less often French Quebec’s children’s exposure to advertisements The healthfulness of food promotions Not protecting English Quebec children

27. Policy Implications: Canada POLICYINFLUENCELACK OF INFLUENCE Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CAI) Some corporations are not advertising to children (n= 4) Little use of licensed characters CAI is responsible for significantly more: Food promotions Repetition Media characters Foods higher in fats, sugar, sodium, energy Greater number classified as “less healthy”

28. Policy Recommendations: Canada Federal statutory regulation that restricts “unhealthy” food and beverages in all media forms and child settings  Broad definitions of:  Children  Marketing  Unhealthy food Systematic monitoring and enforcement

29. Policy Recommendations: Quebec Improved monitoring Improved enforcement Child viewing times need to be updated Need to consider extending the Consumer Protection Act to restrict all “unhealthy food” advertisements regardless of whether “child directed”

30. Acknowledgements The children and parents who participated in these research studies, and

31. Questions

32. Results Study 3: Profile of Corporations during 99.5 hrs CAI (N=13)Non-CAI (N=35) Corporation type13 multinational28 multinational 6 Canadian 1 American Manufacturing type12 food and/or beverage mfr 1 restaurant 15 food and/or beverage mfr 12 restaurants 5 alcoholic beverage mfr/bottler 3 industry associations Top 100 ranking13 (100%) corporations15 (43%) corporations Average length of ad21.3 seconds18.6 seconds