Concerned about the high rates of childhood obesity in the U.S., policymakers in Congress, the Federal Trade Commission and agencies such as the Institute of Medicine have explored a variety of potential contributing factors, including the marketing and advertising of food products to children. One area where policymakers have expressed interest, but have also noted a lack of publicly available data, is in the realm of online food marketing to children.

The Kaiser Family Foundation released the first comprehensive analysis of the nature and scope of online food advertising to children to help inform policymakers, advocates and industry experts. The report, It's Child's Play: Advergaming and the Online Marketing of Food to Children, found that more than eight out of ten (85%) of the top food brands that target children through TV advertising also use branded websites to market to children online.

This report was released at a forum on Wednesday, July 19, 2006, in Washington, D.C., that included a roundtable discussion featuring food industry leaders, government health officials and consumer advocates.

 News Release

 Report: It's Child's Play: Advergaming and the Online Marketing of Food to Children

 Executive Summary: It's Child's Play: Advergaming and the Online Marketing of Food to Children

Webcast Materials:

 Agenda (.pdf)

 Presentation (.pdf)

 Speaker Biographies (.pdf)

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 Transcript (.pdf)