“Marketing is just washing over this country like a tidal wave, and we’re trying to give people swimming lessons.”
—Kelly D. Brownell, UConn Rudd Center
Ottawa, ON – May 6, 2022 – The Stop Marketing to Kids Coalition commends Patricia Lattanzio, Member of Parliament for Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, as she moves Bill C-252 to second reading today in the House of Commons. Private Member’s Bill C-252 aims to prohibit the marketing of food and beverages high in sugar, saturated fats or sodium to children under 13 years of age. Read more…
June 7, 2021 – Coalition Poids, The Childhood Obesity Foundation and Heart & Stroke call on all levels of government to follow the lead of Newfoundland and Labrador and introduce a sugary drinks levy that can be reinvested in prevention as a promising strategy to bring greater health and economic benefits. Read more…
June 17, 2019 – The Stop Marketing to Kids Coalition is calling attention to a communication to Senators in The Hill Times urging the Senate to pass Bill S-228 before the end of the current parliamentary session. Known as the Child Health Protection Act, the bill would restrict the marketing of foods and beverages high in sugar, salt and saturated fat to children 12 and under. The communication, an urgent plea to senators, was placed by the Canadian Paediatric Society (which is an endorsing organization of the Coalition) and the Pediatric Chairs of Canada. Read more…
July 30, 2017 -Heart & Stroke welcomes the recent announcement by Health Canada to launch two public consultations as part of its Healthy Eating Strategy. These consultations will allow Canadians to have input around two public policy areas that can significantly support them to be able to make healthy food choices for themselves and their families. Read more…
May 23, 2017 – To rally support for federal legislation intended to restrict food and beverage marketing to all children in Canada, Heart & Stroke’s next step in its fight against marketing to kids uses a new (and entirely fictional) advertising agency called “16 and Under” that exclusively creates ads targeting kids. Read more…
February 1, 2017 – New research reveals advertising restrictions urgently needed to protect kids and support parents. Read more…
October 7, 2016 – Jamie Oliver and Stop Marketing to Kids Coalition identify areas for immediate action. Read more…
September 28, 2016 – The Stop Marketing to Kids Coalition applauds Senator Nancy Greene Raine for introducing legislation prohibiting food and beverage marketing to children. Read more…
March 1, 2016 – The Heart and Stroke Foundation praises the Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology for its comprehensive report on obesity and important nutrition policy recommendations that will have a real impact on the health of Canadians. Read more…
February 24, 2016 – Co-led by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Childhood Obesity Foundation, the Stop Marketing to Kids Coalition says the time has come to protect children and to support parents to make healthy decisions for their families. Read more…
May 9, 2013 – Approximately 20 health organizations have joined together in light of Canada Health Day 2013 to support of a policy statement calling for a restriction on marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to children. Read more…
Lois Abraham / The Canadian Press
Jamie Oliver is calling on Justin Trudeau to develop and execute a plan for child nutrition, including addressing unhealthy food and beverage advertising to children. Read more…
The Canadian Press
Justin Trudeau releases new additions to his platform, including the commitment to place restrictions on marketing unhealthy food and drinks to children. Read more…
Municipal, provincial and federal “Marketing to Kids” (M2K) position statements (N=13) were identified in a non-comprehensive review. The positions, as well as commonalities and differences between them, were examined and analyzed. Below is a summary of areas of consensus and areas to be worked on.
Consensus between position statements
Type of approach
-Positions agree that a legislative approach is required.
Regulatory actors
-Positions view the Federal and Provincial Governments as the regulatory actors.
Definitions of marketing
-Across the position statements, there was a great amount of consensus on the definitions of ‘marketing’ and ‘advertising’.
-Marketing: broad range of activities (the promotion, price, placement and placement of a product).
-Advertising: a subset of marketing and includes only promotion.
-Half of the position statements specified marketing and half specified advertising. All agree that regulations must reflect diversity and intensity of modern marketing/advertising.
General rationale for restricting M2K
-Food and beverage marketing associated with obesity
-Children’s cognitive vulnerability.
-High Frequency of M2K in Canada and healthfulness of this marketing.
-High rates of childhood obesity (poor food intake, link with cancer, heart disease).
Areas to be worked on
Various key recommendations
1) No commercial marketing to children (Quebec Model):
-Association of Local Public Health Agencies, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Ontario Public Health Association, Ontario Society of Nutrition Professionals in Public Health, Toronto Board of Health
2) No commercial food or beverage marketing to children:
-Alberta Policy Coalition, Heart and Stroke Foundation (BC &
Yukon)
3) No unhealthy food or beverage marketing:
-Canadian Medical Association, Childhood Obesity
Foundation, Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance of
Canada, Hypertension Advisory Committee, Ontario
Medical Association
4) Improve self regulation:
-Dietitians of Canada
Age recommendations
-Most (7/13) recommend for under 13 year old
-Some position statements did not specify an age.
*Note: Industry makes their advertising decisions based on two age groups: 2-11 & 12-17.
There is a lack of consensus rooted in differences in
-Understanding of the problem
-Desired outcomes
-Viewing M2K as either an obesity or an ethics issue
Discussion
What is the evidence to support restricting M2K? Childhood obesity rates in Quebec are lower, etc. but very difficult to say that a policy is linked directly. To have an impact on obesity you have to intervene on so many ways.
The Canadian government has been trying to define “unhealthy food” and have made no progress. For this definition we can look at what other countries have done e.g. The UK Nutrient Profile Model.
Before engaging the public in this issue, it would be good to first see discussion amongst NGOs, academics, clinicians about the pros and cons of each position. Ideally, this would be a diverse collaboration. Municipal governments also need to become more involved.
We can then engage the public on where the direction they see policy going. Parents are not aware of how much marketing is happening so getting them involved is key.
Thank You to our Speaker
Monique Potvin Kent, PhD, is a part-time and Adjunct Professor at the University of Ottawa in the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences. For the past 8 years, she has been conducting interdisciplinary obesity prevention research with a policy focus. Currently, she is examining children’s exposure to food and beverage marketing in Canada on television and on the Internet, the marketing techniques used to sell food and beverages to children, and the nutritional quality of this marketing.
Click here to view the PDF version of the webinar slides
Vancouver Sun
The Globe & Mail