A flipbook by Sarah Savelli to explore how media advertisements from the food industry are a factor in the childhood obesity epidemic (final copy)

1. Food for
Thought:
The
Childhood
Obesity
Epidemic
and
Media
Adver9sing
By Sarah Savelli
Pexels:
‘child,
couch’
by
Danielle
Truckenmiller

2. Approximately
31%
of
Canadian
children
and
youth
are
overweight
or
obese
related
to
a
consump9on
of
low
nutrient,
high
energy
foods
leading
to
weight
gain
[2]
Flickr:
Obesity
by
Becca
Kraus

3. Childhood obesity
is
linked
to
an
increase
in
bullying,
depression, unhealthy weight control
behaviours, suicide diabetes,
cardiovascular disease, and cancer [1]
Pexels:
‘child,
eyes,
face’
by
Dominique
Feldwick-­‐Davis

4. Today, children
spend
about
44.5
hours
per
week
in
front
of
a
screen
[1]
Flickr:
DSCF0003
by
Amy

5. Furthermore,
more
electronic
devices
and
screen
9me
means
more
exposure
to
media
food
ads
[1]
Flickr:
Business
woman
by
Marc
Balay

6. The
food
brands
adver9sed
to
children
on
one
screen
are
likely
to
reappear
on
another
…
Flickr:
watching
by
Ivan
Dostal

7. … but children
cannot
dis9nguish
between
programming
and
ads
during
screen
9me
[1]
Pexels:
‘barefeet,
boy’
by
pixabay

8.
Children
who
watch
more
than
three
hours
of
television
per
day
are
50% more likely to
be
obese
than
children
who
watch
fewer
than
two
hours
per
day
[1]
Flickr:
obesity
by
eatwellin

9. The
American
food industry spends
15
billion
dollars
per
year
on
media
adver9sements
[1]
Pexels:
Red
Coca
Cola
Zero
Signage
by
Nega9ve
Space

10. Hence, half
of
the
ads
delivered
during
children’s
media
are
food-­‐related
[1]
Google:
Oreo
Colourfilled
by
Vimeo

11. and
90%
of
these
ads
feature
foods
high
in
salt, fat and sugar [2]
Google:
McDonald’s
i’m
lovin
‘it
by
Vimeo

12. In contrast,
healthy
food
and
beverage
products
are
featured
in
media
ads
about
once
per
week
[1]
Flickr:
TV
by
Vania
Diaz

13. and
merely
45%
of
youth
ages
12-­‐19
eat
the
minimum
recommended
servings
of
fruits
and
vegetables
[2]
Flickr:
Family
autumn
by
Elena
Jursina

14.
Evidently
the
food
on
screen
is
what
children
will
want
and
ask
for
[1]
Google:
Panebello
Pizza
by
Vimeo

15. Over many years of media
advertising,
the
amount
of
processed
foods
in
Canada
has
doubled
to
average
60%
of
family
food
purchases
[2]
Flickr:
Lay’s
potato
chips
bag
by
espensorvik

16. “…it’s
about
taking
the
same
power of
advertising,
but
using
it
to
promote
foods
that
are
good
for
us.”
Michelle
Obama
[3]
Flickr:
“First
Lady”
by
Poli9c365

17. Despite
the
Government
of
Canada’s
guidelines
to
regulate
unhealthy
food
adver9sements
aimed
at
children,
the industry
is largely self-
regulated
[4]
Pexels:
‘adult,
screen’
by
rawpixel.com

18. In effect, for
every
one
addi9onal
hour
of
TV
watched,
a
child
will
consume
48.7
extra
calories
that
day
[1]
Flickr:
TV
9me
by
Kohen

19. In 2010,
the
Die9cians
of
Canada
proposed
that
the
commercial
marke9ng
of
food
and
beverages
to
children
sixteen
and
under
needs
to
be
restricted
further
[2]…
Flickr:
Maple
Leaf
by
Stephen
Ransom

20. …
6 years later …
Senator
Nancy
Greene
introduced
a
public
bill
to
stop
food
and
beverage
marke9ng
to
children
[2]
Flickr:
Parliament
by
rjsbha9a

21. Are we ready to
protect our
children from the
obesity epidemic?
Pexels:
Girl
in
Grey
Jacket
by
Unsplash

22. References
[1]
American
Psychogical
Associa9on.
(2017).
The
impact
of
food
adver9sing
on
childhood
obesity.
In
Kids
&
the
Media.
Retrieved
from
hjp://
www.apa.org/topics/kids-­‐media/food.aspx
[2]
Die9cians
of
Canada.
(2016).
Health
coali9on
gives
proposed
legisla9on
to
protect
children
a
gold
star.
In
New
Releases.
Retrieved
from
hjp://
www.die99ans.ca/Media/News-­‐Releases/2016/M2KLegisla9on.aspx
[3]
Holecko,
C.
(2016).
Encouraging
Kids
to
Eat
Fruits
and
Vegetables.
In
First
Lady
Michelle
Obama:
Child
Health
and
Obesity
Quotes.
Retrieved
from
hjps://www.verywell.com/michelle-­‐obama-­‐quotes-­‐on-­‐childhood-­‐
obesity-­‐1257092
[4]
Nadeau,
M.
(2011).
Regula9ons
and
Jurisdic9ons.
In
Food
AdverBsing
Directed
at
Children.
Retrieved
from
hjp://childhoodobesityfounda9on.ca/
wp-­‐content/uploads/2015/02/
AMorel_food_adver9sing_directed_at_children.pdf