Governmental Policies to Reduce Unhealthy Food Marketing to Children: A Narrative Review

Citation

Taillie, Lindsey Smith; Busey, Emily A.; Mediano Stoltze, Fernanda; & Carpentier, Francesca R. Dillman (2019). Governmental Policies to Reduce Unhealthy Food Marketing to Children: A Narrative Review. Nutrition Reviews, 77(11), 787-816. PMCID: PMC7528677

Abstract

Reducing children’s exposure to food marketing is an important obesity prevention strategy. This narrative review describes current statutory regulations that restrict food marketing; reviews available evidence on the effects of these regulations; and compares policy design elements in Chile and the United Kingdom. Currently, 16 countries have statutory regulations on unhealthy food marketing to children. Restrictions on television advertising, primarily during children’s programming, are most common. Schools are also a common setting for restrictions. Regulations on media such as cinema, mobile phone applications, print, packaging, and the internet are uncommon. Eleven evaluations of policies in 4 jurisdictions found small or no policy-related reductions in unhealthy food advertising, in part because marketing shifted to other programs or venues; however, not all policies have been evaluated. Compared with the United Kingdom, Chile restricts marketing on more products, across a wider range of media, using more marketing techniques. Future research should examine which elements of food marketing policy design are most effective at reducing children’s exposure to unhealthy food marketing.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuz021

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2019

Journal Title

Nutrition Reviews

Author(s)

Taillie, Lindsey Smith
Busey, Emily A.
Mediano Stoltze, Fernanda
Carpentier, Francesca R. Dillman

PMCID

PMC7528677

ORCiD

Taillie - 0000-0002-4555-2525
Mediano Stoltze - 0000-0003-1474-349X