FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GMA: More Than Two-Thirds of the Advertisements Seen by Children and Teens Today Promote More Nutritious Foods and Healthy Lifestyles
Contact:
Scott Openshaw, Director, Communications, 202-295-3957
Brian Kennedy, Director, Communications, 202-639-5994
March 9, 2010
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) today issued the following statement from GMA Vice President of Federal Affairs Scott Faber in response to the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s (CSPI) Report Card on Food Marketing to Kids:
“Obesity is one of the nation’s most serious public health challenges, and our industry has significantly changed the way we develop and market our products to provide more healthy choices and to help consumers build a healthy diet. We all have a role to play – the public sector, private industry, and parents – if we are going to reduce the number of overweight and obese children in America.
“The food and beverage industry has already changed the recipes of more than 10,000 products to reduce calories, sugar, sodium, and fat. We are working with experts at FDA and USDA to design new labels that make information about calories and nutrition facts clearer for busy parents. And, we have changed the way we advertise our products during children’s programming. Because our industry has applied nutrition standards to our advertising seen during children’s programming, two-thirds of advertisements viewed on children’s programming now feature healthy food and active lifestyles.”
As food and beverage marketers have reduced and shifted the mix of products advertised to children (2-11 yrs) and teens (12-17 yrs), a recent Georgetown Economic Services (“GES”) study found that children are seeing fewer food, beverage and restaurant ads on television. Between 2004 and 2008:
-Advertisements for food, beverages and restaurants during children’s programming fell by 31 percent
-Children viewed many more advertisements for healthy choices and significantly fewer advertisements for snacks.
-Advertisements for soups, fruits and vegetables rose dramatically
-Advertisements for snacks fell by 60 percent
-Advertisements for cookies fell by 82 percent
“Everyone has a role to play, including government, if we are going to meet First Lady Michelle Obama’s goal of ending childhood obesity within a generation. We look forward to continuing to work with the First Lady, the Obama Administration and Congress to help all Americans build and maintain a healthy diet.”
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Based in Washington, D.C., the Grocery Manufacturers Association is the voice of more than 300 leading food, beverage and consumer product companies that sustain and enhance the quality of life for hundreds of millions of people in the United States and around the globe. Founded in 1908, GMA is an active, vocal advocate for its member companies and a trusted source of information about the industry and the products consumers rely on and enjoy every day. The association and its member companies are committed to meeting the needs of consumers through product innovation, responsible business practices and effective public policy solutions developed through a genuine partnership with policymakers and other stakeholders. In keeping with its founding principles, GMA helps its members produce safe products through a strong and ongoing commitment to scientific research, testing and evaluation and to providing consumers with the products, tools and information they need to achieve a healthy diet and an active lifestyle. The food, beverage and consumer packaged goods industry in the United States generates sales of $2.1 trillion annually, employs 14 million workers and contributes $1 trillion in added value to the economy every year.
Related GMA Documents dealing with - ADVERTISING
NEWS RELEASE
- March 9, 2010 GMA: More Than Two-Thirds of the Advertisements Seen by Children and Teens Today Promote More Nutritious Foods and Healthy Lifestyles
- December 15, 2009 GMA to Federal Trade Commission: Children Seeing Fewer Food and Beverage Ads ~ Mix of Ads Shifting to Promote Healthful Choices
- November 3, 2009 Brand Preferences More Influential in Driving Purchase than Price, According to Latest Grocery Manufacturers Association-Booz-SheSpeaks Shopper Marketing Research
Related GMA Documents dealing with - OBESITY ISSUE
NEWS RELEASE
- August 30, 2010 Food and Beverage Companies Have Introduced More than 20,000
Healthier Product Choices Since 2002
- May 17, 2010 GMA Statement Regarding HWCF Pledge to Reduce 1.5 Trillion Calories by 2015
- May 11, 2010 GMA Statement Regarding Recommendations from President's Childhood Obesity Task Force
- May 5, 2010 GMA Applauds Rep. Ron Kind's Comprehensive Anti-Obesity Legislation
- March 16, 2010 First Lady Michelle Obama Addresses Grocery Manufacturers Association Science Forum - GMA Strongly Supports First Lady’s Goal of Solving Childhood Obesity within a Generation
- March 9, 2010 GMA: More Than Two-Thirds of the Advertisements Seen by Children and Teens Today Promote More Nutritious Foods and Healthy Lifestyles
- March 4, 2010 GMA Statement at House Agriculture Appropriations Hearing on the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act
- January 27, 2010 GMA Response to President Obama's State of the Union Address
- January 20, 2010 GMA Statement on First Lady Michelle Obama's Childhood Obesity Initiative
- December 16, 2009 Grocery Manufacturers Association Testifies before Congress in Hearing on “Innovations in Addressing Childhood Obesity”
- October 5, 2009 Retailers, NGOs and Food and Beverage Industry Launch National Initiative to Help Reduce Obesity
- September 17, 2009 GMA Applauds HHS Secretary Sebelius and HHS for New Community Prevention and Wellness Program
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