Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Food Marketing to Children in India: Comparative Review of Regulatory Strategies Across the World

  • Review Article
  • Published:
The Indian Journal of Pediatrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Food marketing directed to children is an issue of concern in the present day society. Revolution in food industry, increasing globalization and boom in information technology has introduced various types of food products and the way they are placed in front of likely consumers. This has resulted in rising trend of obesity and switch from communicable to non-communicable diseases, which is not cost effective for nation as a whole. Multinational companies have targeted children as a naïve audience to boost their sales. In-ethical practice of misleading claims in the advertisements is instrumental in many cases. Food marketing to children has been assumed a public health threat since times of yore. World Health Organization has resolutions and recommendations on this subject. Member countries, including India are a signatory to this declaration. However, much needs to be done to counter these multinational food giants. Regulations and policies need to be enforced at national and institutional levels. Parents must be educated; schools and social organizations to be made proactive on this aspect.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Wilcox BL, Kunkel D, Cantor J, Dowrick P, Linn S, Palmer E. Report of the APA Task Force on Advertising and Children. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; 2004. Available at; https://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/advertising-children.pdf (Accessed on April 25, 2014).

  2. Marshall D, O’Donohoe S, Kline S. Families, food, and pester power: beyond the blame game? J Consum Behav. 2007;6:164–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Kaur P, Singh R. Children in family purchase decision making in India and the West: A Review. Academy of Marketing Science Review. 2006;8. Available at: http://www.amsreview.org/articles/kaur08-2006.pdf (Accessed on April 25, 2014)

  4. International C. The Junk Food Trap, marketing unhealthy food to children in Asia Pacific. September 2008. Available at http://www.consumersinternational.org/media/540310/junk_food_trap.pdf.

  5. Hastings G, Laura Mc D, Angus K, Stead M, Thomson S. The extent nature and effects of food promotion to Children: A review of the evidence. Technical Paper prepared for World Health Organization: WHO; 2007. Available at: http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/Hastings_paper_marketing.pdf.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Nawathe A, Rohan GR, Sudhir DS. Impact of Advertising on Children’s Health. Proceedings of International Marketing Conference on Marketing & Society, 8–10 April, 2007. Available from: URL: http://dspace.iimk.ac.in/bitstream/2259/356/1/ 303–311.pdf. (Accessed September 10, 2010).

  7. Karan J. Advertisement of “Complan”. Indian Pediatr. 2011;48:412–3.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Srinivas MN. A Note on Sanskritization and Westernizatiuon. Journal of Asain Studies (Far Eastern Quarterly). 1956;(15) 4:481–96.

  9. Raghav P, Kumar R. The influence of television on children and adolescents in an urban slum. Indian J Community Med. 2010;35:447.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Nayak BS. Television viewing and health behavior of children in south India. Nurs J India. 2011;C11:

  11. Kuriyan R, Bhat S, Thomas T, Vaz M, Kurpad AV. Television viewing and sleep are associated with overweight among urban and semi-urban South Indian children. Nutr J. 2007;6:25.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Kuriyan R, Thomas T, Sumithra S, Lokesh DP, Sheth NR, Joy R, et al. Potential factors related to waist circumference in urban south Indian children. Indian Pediatr. 2012;49:124–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Crespo G, Smit E, Troiano R, Bartlett S, Macera C, Anderson R. Television viewing, energy intake and obesity in US children. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2001;155:360–5.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Dietz WH, Gortmaker SL. Do we fatten our children at the TV set? Obesity and television in children and adolescents. Pediatrics. 1985;75:807–12.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Borzekowski DL, Robinson TN. The 30-s effect: an experiment revealing the impact of television commercials on food preferences of preschoolers. J Am Diet Assoc. 2001;101:42–6.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Gortmaker SL, Must A, Sobol AM, Peterson K, Colditz GA, Dietz WH. Television viewing as a cause of increasing obesity among children in the United States, 1986–1990. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1996;150:356–62.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Lowry R, Wechscler H, Galuska DA, Fulton J, Kann L. Television and its association with overweight, sedentary lifestyle and insufficent consumption of fruits and vegetables among US High school students: Difference in Race. Ethnicity and Gender. J Sch Health. 2002;72:413–21.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Proctor MH, Moore LL, Gao D, Cupples LA, Bradlee ML, Hood MY, et al. Television viewing and change in body fat from preschool to early adolescence: The Framingham Chid Study. Int J Obes. 2003;27:827–33.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Ruangdaraganon N, Kotchabhakdi N, Udomsubpayakul U, Kunanusont C, Suriyawongpaisal P. The association between television viewing and childhood obesity: a National Survey in Thailand. J Med Assoc Thai. 2002;85:S1075–80.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Chernin A. The effects of food marketing on children’s preferences: testing the moderating roles of age and gender, SAGE Study. Ann Am Acad Pol Soc Sci. 2008;615:101–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Graff S, Kunkel D, Mermin SE. Government can regulate food advertising to children because cognitive research shows that it is inherently misleading. Health Aff. 2012;31:392–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Ueda P, Tong L, Viedma C, Chandy SJ, Marrone G, Simon A, et al. Food marketing towards children: brand logo recognition, food-related behavior and BMI among 3–13-year-olds in a south Indian town. PLoS One. 2012;7:e47000. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0047000.

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Pellai A, Vetrano S, Nobile M, Luti C. The reverse pyramid: a quali-quantitative study about food advertising inside children’s television programmes. Minerva Pediatr. 2012;64:15–26.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Wang Y, Lobstein T. Worldwide trends in childhood overweight and obesity. Int J Pediatr Obes. 2006;1:11–25.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Government of India. National Family Health Survey, India. NFHS-3 Fact Sheets for Key Indicators Based On Final Data. Available at http://www.rchiips.org/nfhs/factsheet.shtml Accessed on 25 April, 2014.

  26. Freedman DS, Zuguo M, Srinivasan SR, Berenson GS, Dietz WH. Cardiovascular risk factors and excess adiposity among overweight children and adolescents: the Bogalusa Heart Study. J Paediatr. 2007;150:12–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Li C, Ford ES, Zhao G, Mokdad AH. Prevalence of pre-diabetes and its association with clustering of cardiometabolic risk factors and hyperinsulinemia among US adolescents: NHANES 2005–2006. Diabetes Care. 2009;32:342–7.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Dietz WH. Overweight in childhood and adolescence. N Engl J Med. 2004;350:855–7.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Kushi LH, Byers T, Doyle C, Bandera EV, McCullough M, Gansler T, et al. American Cancer Society guidelines on nutrition and physical activity for cancer prevention: reducing the risk of cancer with healthy food choices and physical activity. CA Cancer J Clin. 2006;56:254–81.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Ghimire N, Rao A. Comparative evaluation of the influence of television advertisements on children and caries prevalence. Glob Health Action 2013, 6: 20066 - Http://Dx. Doi. Org/10.3402/Gha.V6i0.20066 DOI:10.3402/gha.v6i0.20066

  31. Hari Kumar KVS, Baruah MM. Nutritional endocrine disorders. J Med Nutr Nutraceut. 2012;1:5–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Wilcox B, Cantor J, Dowrick P, Kunkel D, Linn S, Palmer E. Report of the task force on advertising and children 2004. Summary of the findings and conclusions. Available at http://gaia.adage.com/images/random/childrenads022404.pdf

  33. HFSS Advertising Restrictions-Final Review OFCOM 2010. Available at http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/tv-research/hfss-review-final.pdf Accessed on 24-9-12.

  34. Hawkes C. Marketing food to children, changes in the Global Regulatory Environment 2004–2006. WHO 2007. Available at http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/regulatory_environment_CHawkes07.pdf (Accessed on 10 April 2012)

  35. World Health Organization, European Region. Code on marketing of food and non-alcoholic beverages to children. Prepared by the European Network on reducing marketing pressure on children. August, 2009. Available at: http://www.euro.who.int/en/what-we-do/health-topics/disease-prevention/nutrition/policy/member-states-action-networks/reducing-marketing-pressure-on-children

  36. Kent MP, Dubois L, Wanless A. Self-regulation by industry of food marketing is having little impact during children’ s preferred television. Int J Pediatr Obes. 2011;6:401–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Dadhich JP. Misleading health claims for food products need to be banned. Indian Pediatr. 2011;48:413–5.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Available at http://www.ascionline.org/index.php/faqs.html [Accessed on March 20, 2014]

  39. Morley B, Martin J, Niven P, Wakefield M. Public opinion on food-related obesity prevention policy initiatives. Health Promot J Austr. 2012;23:86–91.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Haby MM, Vos T, Carter R, Moodie M, Markwick A, Magnus A, et al. A new approach to assessing the health benefit from obesity interventions in children and adolescents: the assessing cost-effectiveness in obesity project. Int J Obes. 2006;30:1463–75.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Oommen VG, Anderson PJ. Policies on restriction of food advertising during children’s television viewing times: an international perspective. In: Proceedings Australian College of Health Service Executives 2008 Conference, Going for Gold in Health- Motivation, Effort, Performance. Gold Coast, Australia. 2008.

  42. Programme and Advertising Codes prescribed under the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994. Available at http://www.mib.nic.in/WriteReadData/documents/pc1.pdf. (Accessed on 14 December 2013)

  43. Penalty for misleading advertisement. In: The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. IInd ed. New Delhi: Commercial Law Publishers; 2012. p. 41

  44. Vashishtha VM. Advertisement of food products for children: a tale of legality, ethics and indifference. Indian Pediatr. 2010;47:857–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Mr Sukhwinder Singh, Food Safety Officer, UT Chandigarh for providing relevant literature and Dr Manoj Grover for technical assistance and guidance in manuscript writing.

Contributions

NB: Review of literature, manuscript writing; RK: Concept of manuscript, review of literature and manuscript review; PD: Manuscript review and editing. Dr Amarjeet Singh, Professor, Department of Community Medicine, PGIMER, Chandigarh, will act as guarantor for this paper.

Conflict of Interest

None.

Source of Funding

None.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Medicine, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, 160012, India

    Nidhi Bhatnagar, Ravneet Kaur & Puja Dudeja

Authors
  1. Nidhi Bhatnagar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ravneet Kaur
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Puja Dudeja
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nidhi Bhatnagar.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bhatnagar, N., Kaur, R. & Dudeja, P. Food Marketing to Children in India: Comparative Review of Regulatory Strategies Across the World. Indian J Pediatr 81, 1187–1192 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-014-1480-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-014-1480-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation