Disney’s action on advertising to children may prompt other television networks to act

Disney has introduced nutritional criteria governing what foods can be advertised to children. All eyes are now on its peers, principally Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network, to see if they will be compelled to follow suit.

Disney’s move has been broadly welcomed. Dr Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the consumer pressure group Centre for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), says it is “a big step”, pointing out that while some networks had introduced guidelines, these principally addressed licensed characters. In other ways, the major media groups “are just not doing nearly as much” as the food companies, Wootan says.

In response to heightened political pressure, food companies revised their voluntary ad guidelines, administered through the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), in 2011. So far, the only children’s TV company to have introduced advertising criteria is the relatively small network Qubo.

The Disney guidelines are broadly similar to the CFBAI’s. Elaine Kolish, director of the CFBAI, concedes that Disney’s guidelines are “slightly” stronger in some areas, but points out that the CFBAI has an implementation date of 2013 whereas Disney’s criteria are set to come into force in 2015. “Overall I think they’re very comparable,” she says.

Kolish welcomes Disney’s move but urges all media companies to join the CFBAI. Disney applying its own standards was “a really good thing to do” but being part of a coalition “is even better”. Currently comprising 14 food companies and two restaurant operators, CFBAI has always been open to the idea of media companies joining, Kolish says. CSPI has also been publicly urging media companies to join the scheme.

Voluntary controls

Tighter voluntary controls by the networks would clearly strengthen self-regulation of child-directed advertising. As Dr Lisa Powell of the Institute for Health Research and Policy at the University of Illinois, points out, media companies applying guidelines would be acting as “gatekeepers” to prevent food companies that are not voluntarily imposing restrictions – the CFBAI represents around 75-80% of child-directed advertising – from running ads for inappropriate foods.

Disney’s move was described as a “game changer” by Michelle Obama, who has been the standard-bearer for the Obama administration’s push on childhood obesity through her Let’s Move campaign.

However, the reality is that even with the CFBAI criteria, Disney’s new guidelines, and possibly similar guidelines from other networks, the majority of advertising for high fat, sugar and sodium foods seen by children is not in children’s programming but in mainstream family broadcasting.

As Dr Powell’s research into children’s exposure to food advertising reveals, in spite of self-regulatory efforts around children’s TV, 86% of television food advertising seen by children is for products high in saturated fat, sugar or sodium, down only slightly from 94% in 2003.

Tackling the problem in mainstream family viewing poses a formidable major challenge.