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IOM's Report on Food Marketing and Children's Diets
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IOM's Report on Food Marketing and Children's Diets

Type of Resource: Book/Report / PDF available at website
Resource ID: 85

Abstract (full description below): The report provides a comprehensive review of the literature and many recommendations about how to shift the balance of marketing away from low-nutrition foods and toward promotion of healthier foods and beverages.
Title: Food Marketing to Children and Youth: Threat or Opportunity?
Author(s): Committee on Food Marketing and the Diets of Children and Youth
Publisher: Institute of Medicine
Date published: December 2005
Internet site selling or supporting book:  www.iom.edu/report.asp?id=31330
Organization selling or publishing book: National Academies Press 
Organization's phone: 800 624-6242

Address: 500 Fifth Street, NW
Box 285
Washington, District of Columbia  20055


PDF/Acrobat Overview of the IOM Report on Food Marketing.  
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Description of resource
How marketing influences children and youth is the focus of the IOM report, Food Marketing to Children and Youth: Threat or Opportunity? The report provides the most comprehensive review to date of the scientific evidence on the influence of food marketing on diets and diet-related health of children and youth. The study was requested by Congress and sponsored by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The report finds that current food and beverage marketing practices puts children's long-term health at risk. If America's children and youth are to develop eating habits that help them avoid early onset of diet-related chronic diseases, they have to reduce their intake of high-calorie, low-nutrient snacks, fast foods, and sweetened drinks, which make up a high proportion of the products marketed to them.

The report provides recommendations for different segments of society to guide the development of effective marketing and advertising strategies that promote healthier foods, beverages, and meal options to children and youth. Recommendations are provided for
  • the food beverage, and restaurant industries;
  • food retailers and trade associations;
  • the entertainment industry and the media;
  • parents and caregivers; schools; and
  • the government.

The report offers guidance on research activities necessary to chart the path of future improvements, and the capacity to monitor and track improvements in marketing practices that have an influence on children's and youth's diets and diet-related health. The recommendations reflect the current context and information in a rapidly changing environment, and should be implemented together as a package to support and complement one another.

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