Marketing and Health 

Research shows that as much as 90% of food and beverages marketed to children are for processed foods, high in sugar, salt and/or saturated fat.

Research has shown that food and beverage marketing has an impact on: 

• The foods children eat. 
• Their food preferences and beliefs. 
• The foods they pester their parents to buy. 
• Rising rates of childhood obesity. 
• Increased risk factors for chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer.

Healthy eating is one of the most important things we can do for overall health and children deserve to be protected from the persuasiveness and invasiveness of food and beverage marketing. Reducing the power and exposure of food and beverage marketing to children will protect children and support parents as they help their children develop healthy eating habits and food preferences.

Worsening health trends in Canada:

• Nearly one in five children and youth ages 5 to 17 years say they drink sugar-sweetened beverages daily.
• Almost one in three children have overweight or obesity, a risk factor for heart disease and stroke. 
• In Canada, kids’ risk factors for premature heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure and diabetes are at epidemic levels. 
• Over the past 70 years, consumption of processed and ultra-processed foods in Canada has doubled, from 30% of the average family’s food purchases to 60%.
• Non-communicable diseases have a devastating impact on our healthcare system and place a considerable burden on our economy. In Canada, diet-related chronic diseases were responsible for approximately 47,000 deaths in 2016, costing the Canadian economy over $26 billion annually.