Assessing the Public Health Impacts of the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative

Published: October 2021

ID #: CAS057

Publisher: Healthy Eating Research and RTI International

Authors: Muth MK, Karns SA, Hayes M

See more related research

Share

The Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) is a voluntary industry initiative in which companies commit to featuring only foods meeting specific nutrition criteria in advertising directed primarily to children under age 12. New criteria that were announced in 2018 and went into effect in 2020 strengthened the nutrition standards and changed the criteria for total sugars to added sugars for consistency with the new Nutrition Facts label. This study assessed the relative importance of CFBAI-listed products in children’s diets compared to substitute products not on the CFBAI list, which is needed to understand the potential for the criteria to have a public health impact. This brief summarizes the results of an analysis of the effects of the criteria and recent changes; the complete results are described in more detail in the full report.

Full Report

Access the report by RTI International for the full study background, methodology, and findings.

Read the Brief

Focus Areas: Diet Quality & Healthy Weight, Food Marketing

Keywords: Digital marketing, Food advertising, Food formulation

Age Groups: Elementary-age children (grades K to 5), Preschool-age children (ages 3 to 5)

State: National

Resource Type: Report

Related Research

January 2020

Understanding the Public Health Significance of the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative

The Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) is a voluntary industry initiative in which companies commit to feature only foods meeting specific nutrition criteria in advertising directed primarily to children under age 12. Uniform nutrition criteria were originally established in 2011, and new criteria will go into effect in January 2020. The public health More

May 2026

A Pediatric Perspective on the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines

Clear, evidence-based guidance on what foods and beverages children and adolescents should consume—and in what amounts—is foundational for promoting healthy growth and preventing diet-related chronic disease across the life course. Yet many children and adolescents in the US continue to have diets of poor nutritional quality. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs), issued every 5 More

May 2026

A Snapshot of Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA)

This resource, developed in partnership with Public Health Communications Collaborative, provides a snapshot of the most recent changes to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), including which foods adults should eat to maintain health and reduce the risk of chronic disease, which foods should be limited based on a standard 2000-calorie diet, and what to More