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Child‐directed marketing within and around fast‐food restaurants (390.1)
Author(s) -
OhriVachaspati Punam,
Zeynep Isgor,
Rimkus Leah,
Powell Lisa
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.390.1
Subject(s) - odds , meal , food marketing , calorie , popularity , marketing , business , quality (philosophy) , advertising , obesity , environmental health , food science , psychology , medicine , logistic regression , philosophy , epistemology , endocrinology , social psychology , chemistry
Fast food is the second‐largest source of calories among youth. Children who eat fast food consume more calories and have poor diet quality. The fast‐food industry spends over $700 million to market products to youth each year. Using validated instruments, data were collected from 6710 fast‐food restaurants located in a nationally representative sample of public middle‐ and high‐school enrollment areas between 2010 and 2012. Child‐directed marketing was defined as the presence of one or more of eight components inside or on the exterior of the restaurant. Over a fifth of all types of fast‐food restaurants and a third of chain fast‐food restaurants used child‐directed marketing within and/or around their buildings. Fast‐food restaurants that offered kids’ meals were significantly more likely to use child‐directed marketing than those that didn’t offer kids’ meals. Indoor display of kids’ meal toys was the most often used strategy and prevalence was highest among restaurants that participate in the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI [84.6% in 2012]). Results from multivariate analysis indicate that all fast‐food restaurants in mid‐low income neighborhoods, and CFBAI member fast‐food restaurants in black neighborhoods, had significantly higher odds of using child directed marketing compared to those located in highest income and white neighborhoods, respectively. Child‐directed marketing was more prevalent in communities that are disproportionately affected by obesity. Popularity of kids’ meals toy displays to advertise to children meals that have been shown to be of poor nutritional quality is of concern. It is important to limit children’s exposure to unhealthy food advertising. Grant Funding Source : Robert Wood Johnson Foundation