Food Marketing and Youth Obesity

  In today’s day and age, food seems to be such a focus on all of our minds. Because of this, advertisers and marketers are constantly pushing more and more food related ads onto television and internet pages. Considering that children and young adults are the most prevalent consumers of television and internet, “It is unsurprising that...the present generation of young people are more vulnerable to [be] overweight than ever before.” (Allman-Farinelli et al. 2007 p. 898)

  The manner in which food is marketed to our youth through television and internet ads provides an inaccurate and unhealthy idea of proper eating habits. Often, advertisements display processed and unhealthy foods, unethically large portions, and irregular eating schedules. Furthermore, most food products that are known to be unhealthy are marketed as healthy, further tainting the young consumers knowledge of proper, healthy eating. These young consumers may not have the ability distinguish right from wrong when faced with these marketing tactics, as stated by Norman et al. “...in addition to the highly emotive themes and tempting food cues present in food advertising, the subtle and embedded nature of contemporary advertising approaches blurs the distinction between media content and advertising, making critical evaluation of marketing more difficult.” (2018 p. 438)

  This unhealthy and overbearing method of marketing foods to children and young adults is one factor of the growing rate of worldwide obesity. As a marketing major myself, I understand manufacturer’s desire to effectively market their product to maximize sales and profit, but at what cost? Is the crumbling health of our future generation worth a quick profit for these manufacturers? While marketing is a vital part of any business’ success, in the food industry special precautions must be made to avoid further tainting the minds of our youth and putting their health at risk.  

References

Allman-Farinelli, M. A., Chey, T., Bauman, A. E., Gill, T., James, W. P. T. (2008). “Age, period

   and birth cohort effects on prevalence of overweight and obesity in Australian adults from

   1990 to 2000.” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 62, 898-907.

   https://www.nature.com/articles/1602769

Norman, J., Kelly, B., McMahon, A.-T., Boyland, E., Baur, L. A., Chapman, K., … Bauman, A.   

   (2018). “Children’s self-regulation of eating provides no defense against television and

   online food marketing”. Appetite, 125, 438–444.

https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/10.1016/j.appet.2018.02.026