ANA Marketing Musings

Fighting Childhood Obesity – Food Manufacturers Taking Big Steps

Food and restaurant companies are committed to addressing the increased rates of obesity in children and are working to meet consumer demand for more healthy food options.  In just the last three years, more than 4,500 new and reformulated products with lower fat and calories have been introduced in the marketplace.  Go to your local supermarket and you will see that every aisle, even the candy aisle, features reduced fat or reduced sugar products.  Many restaurant menus also offer low fat options, and quick service restaurants are now among the largest sellers of salads, yogurt and fruit. 

Here’s a slice of the major initiatives the food manufacturing industry has undertaken to introduce new and “better for you” products.

• In the past three years, members of the Grocery Manufacturers of America have introduced 4,500 new or reformulated products with improved nutrition, including reduced saturated and trans fat, reduced calories, less sugar and less sodium.
• General Mills has converted its entire cereal line to contain 8 or 16 grams of whole grains.  Whole grain consumption can reduce the incidence of heart disease, diabetes, certain cancers, and may help consumers better manage their weight. 
• Kellogg Company has introduced 20 new or reformulated products including new whole-grain cereal products, a new cereal with oat bran, potassium and low sodium, and a group of breakfast cereals and bars made with natural or organic ingredients.
• PepsiCo has taken trans fats out of all of its Frito-Lay snack foods and has reduced sugar, fat, and sodium in many of its products. 

Many of these same food manufacturers have also taken steps to promote healthier and more active lifestyles for children.

• Over the past three years, General Mills has contributed more than $6 million to help youth improve their nutrition and fitness.   The “Champions Youth Nutrition and Fitness Program” helps community groups develop creative ways for today’s youth to adopt a balanced diet and physically active lifestyle.
• Kellogg Company is using Mia Hamm and Tony the Tiger to promote active lifestyles by inviting children to “earn their stripes.”  The company formed a partnership with “Girls on the Run” to encourage girls 8-11 to be more active, eat right and practice a balanced and healthy lifestyle.
• PepsiCo and “America on the Move” have created classroom lesson plans called “Balance First” to teach energy balance in elementary and middle schools.  Outside of schools, PepsiCo and its brands have a long history of supporting youth-sport sponsorships, such as the YMCA, Pepsi’s “Get Out and Play” program and Gatorade’s sports camps.
• The snack food industry is also involved in helping Americans improve their nutrition and fitness levels.  The industry is supporting many programs that strive to promote healthy lifestyles through nutrition education and physical activity. 

Food Advertising to Children

The role of food advertising to children continues to be debated.  Recently in Brandweek, William Macleod, a former director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission, wrote an article titled, “Does Advertising Makes Us Fat? No!” (subscription needed), which gave an excellent recap of the age old debate that began in the 1970s.  MacLeod provided great insight on trying to combat this epidemic: 

“Changing society is a daunting task. It requires everyone to get involved—children, parents,   teachers, employers, marketers, communities and governments.  By contrast, blaming advertisers is easy. It attracts attention, it suggests a simple solution and in the public policy debate, it yields the floor to a new group of advocates.”

Around the same time, The New York Times carried an editorial, “Selling Junk Food to Toddlers,” that summed up a review of the recent Institute of Medicine report with the conclusion, “With more than nine million obese youngsters over 6 in this country, it’s time to stop encouraging another generation to eat wrong.”

Not unexpectedly, even for a newspaper, the editorial focused on marketing as a source of the problem and virtually ignored the number of positive initiatives taking place that demonstrate that the food manufacturing and advertising industries are committed to addressing the increased rates of obesity in children.

• The introduction of thousands of new and reformulated products
• The promotion of healthier and more active lifestyles
• The introduction of new ways to market food products to children
• The enhancement of the industry’s program for self-regulation of children’s
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In the coming weeks, I plan to blog about the major steps the food industry and the marketing community have already taken to respond to this serious challenge.  We are working hard to be part of the solution and this record needs to be understood by the public at large.