A key government report released last month speaks to the importance of ACS CAN's work on nutrition. The report, issued by the Federal Trade Commission, looked at how much money the food and beverage industry spends on marketing its products to children and teens. (The report was a follow-up to a 2008 report requested by Congress in response to concerns about the dramatic increase in childhood obesity.) The FTC found that between 2006 and 2009, food and beverage companies improved the nutritional profile of the foods they market to children, but additional effort is needed if we want to curb the obesity epidemic. According to the report, food and beverage companies spent $1.79 billion marketing their products to kids and teens in 2009, a 19.5 percent decrease from 2006. However, most of that decrease resulted from a shift from TV advertising to lower-cost online, mobile and viral marketing, which increased 50 percent. The report found that most food marketing campaigns directed at children combined television, digital and social marketing, packaging and other strategies. Perhaps more important than how much food and beverage companies spend on marketing is what they are marketing. The FTC's report analyzed the types of foods the industry is marketing to our kids. Thanks to increased efforts by many food, beverage and entertainment companies, the food marketed to youth is somewhat healthier than it has been in the past. For example, cereals marketed to children have less sugar, and fast food marketed to children and teens is lower in calories, saturated fat, sugar and sodium than in previous years. The industry is moving in a positive direction with these improvements. Yet, there is much room for continued progress. The majority of cereals marketed were not whole grain, and most beverages marketed were still high in sugar. This report, and others before it, found that marketing is effective at getting children to convince their parents to buy a particular food product. This is why the nutritional profile of the food our children see on TV, in magazines, online and in other advertising is so important to tackling this nation's youth obesity epidemic. One in three cancer deaths are due to nutrition and physical activity factors, including the 14 to 20 percent of cancer deaths caused by overweight and obesity. That's why the American Cancer Society is working with the food and beverage industry to urge responsible marketing to youth, and why ACS CAN is advocating for a continued reduction in the marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to youth and adults. This report adds to the evidence backing the importance of this work.
Even as Breast Cancer Awareness Month comes to a close, ACS CAN will keep working year-round, across the country and with both state and federal lawmakers, to advance the public policies we know will reduce the burden of breast cancer.