In a 2005 report, “Food Marketing to Children and Youth: Threat or Opportunity?”, an Institute of Medicine (IOM) expert committee concluded that prevailing food and beverage marketing practices did not support a healthful diet and provided recommendations for diverse stakeholders to promote a healthful diet to children and adolescents. This paper reviews the available evidence between December 1, 2005 and January 31, 2011 to evaluate government and school progress to achieve the IOM report recommendations. The evaluation showed that moderate progress was made by schools, school districts, and educational leaders to create healthier eating environments for students. Government made limited progress to strengthen the nation’s research capacity to understand how marketing influences diets; and made no progress to either create a national “healthy eating” social marketing campaign, or to designate a responsible agency to monitor and report on progress for all actions.
Age Groups: Adolescents (grades 9 to 12), Adults and Families, Elementary-age children (grades K to 5), Preschool-age children (ages 3 to 5), Young adolescents (grades 6 to 8)
Keywords: Competitive foods, Digital marketing, Farmers' markets, Food advertising, Fruits and vegetables, Healthy food financing, Legal, Media, Nutrition standards, School wellness policies, Self-regulation, Social media, Taxes
Focus Areas: Early Childhood, Food Marketing, Nutrition Policy & Programs, Pricing & Economics, School & After School
Resource Type: Journal Article
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