It’s also worthwhile to look at the other factors that contribute to the disparities we see in exposure to food marketing.
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For instance, a family with more resources may pay to opt out of ads on video streaming services or smartphone games, safeguarding their children from additional digital marketing.
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Or a family that can afford childcare can go grocery shopping without bringing their children along, limiting their children’s exposure to child-directed packaging and in-store displays designed to promote purchase requests.
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Finally, research documents a disproportionate presence of unhealthy food marketing in Black or Hispanic versus White neighborhoods and in lower-income versus higher-income neighborhoods.
Reshaping our food environment by limiting food marketing is not at the top of our national public health priorities. It should be. We know that diet-related diseases are among the leading causes of death in this country and that food marketing directly influences the consumption of products that contribute to these diseases.
So what can we do when companies aren’t following through on their promises to market healthy food? It’s clear from the incongruence between food companies’ campaign statements and their advertising spending that self-regulation isn’t enough, with a major barrier being that food and beverage companies’ primary goal is to generate profits, not increase public health. And the responsibility should not rest on the individual to “make better choices” or fix our food environment: we need serious structural changes in order to make the healthy choice the available and affordable choice for all consumers, no matter their race, ethnicity, or income level.
In order to limit young peoples’ access to and taste for unhealthy products, policies must hold food companies accountable for marketing unhealthy food to targeted populations. Whether through sugary drink taxes, policies to reduce marketing to children, front-of-package label changes, or incentives for making healthy choices, our local and federal leaders must take a stand to challenge industry and mitigate the harms of food marketing on consumers. While the food industry has power, so does the government. It can use its power for good.
Fran Fleming-Milici, PhD is Director of Marketing Initiatives, UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy & Health. This article first appeared on the website State of Childhood Obesity, a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, as an Expert Perspective.
