U of A researchers want to see an end to unhealthy food and beverage ads targeted at children

EDMONTON- Researchers at the University of Alberta are calling on Ottawa to put an end to unhealthy food and beverage advertisements targeted at children.

“Kids are getting exposed to about seven ads for unhealthy foods and beverages every hour when they’re watching television,” explained Kim Raine, a professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta. “We know that it’s associated with their demands for foods, for their preferences, for their consumption and it is associated with childhood obesity,” Raine added.

One Edmonton mother says she tries to combat this issue by using these types of ads to educate her children.

“When they’re seeing this you can say no to them…and you can tell them why to eat nutritious food versus not, so it helps to educate them, but it certainly is tempting when you see it on TV,” said Kristy Redmond, a mother of two.

There are nearly 500,000 overweight and obese children in Canada- a number that has more than doubled since the 1980s. Raine believes advertisements are contributing to that growing number.

“It is part of what’s creating an environment where the healthy choice is no longer the easy choice. It’s the fun, the slick, the advertised food that is the easier choice for kids.”

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However, dietitians say the information relayed through ads is just one of many factors contributing to childhood obesity.

“We know that there’s not any one solution or one component that, alone, is going to make a difference when it comes to combating childhood obesity,” said registered dietitian Tesia Bennett. “There’s multiple factors that play into the growth and development of a child and ads are just one component that could affect the choices that a family makes and the choices that children make.”

Bennett says it’s important for parents to teach their children about eating well and living an active lifestyle; something Edmonton mother Brittney Struck agrees with.

“I don’t know if taking (ads) off TV is necessarily going to help, it’s the parent’s responsibility to not let them eat it all the time.”

But, researchers say there’s only so much parents can do, and they’re calling on the government to step in and help.

“We’re really competing against a huge amount of money being put into advertising to kids by industry, and some reports show us that what industry spends every three days is the equivalent to what the government spends every year in nutrition education,” Raine explained. “We would love to see a law enacted and we would also like to see a monitoring system so that we can see whether or not people are actually following it.”

Raine believes if kids are exposed to less marketing and advertisements, it would ultimately lead to a culture where healthy eating and active living is the norm.

With files from Shannon Greer.

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