Rudd Center for Food Policy & Health Archives

Rudd Center for Food Policy & Health

January 30, 2025

Advertising sugary cereals to children needs regulation, report says

By Carey Gillam

Food companies are continuing to push unhealthy cereals high in sugar content into the diets of young children through targeted television advertising despite pledges by leading companies to voluntarily regulate such advertising, according to a new analysis.

The report by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health at the University of Connecticut, published Thursday in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, looked at the purchases of high-sugar children’s breakfast cereals by US households over nine years and how the amount of TV advertising directed to children versus adults impacted those choices. The authors said they found that advertising to children had a significant impact on cereal purchase decisions.

“Despite promises to only advertise healthier options directly to children and the availability of nutritious cereals in their product portfolios, cereal companies continue to market their least healthy products directly to children,” Jennifer Harris, lead author and senior research advisor at the Rudd Center, said in a statement.

“Our research provides strong evidence that discontinuing all advertising of nutritionally poor foods directly to children would likely negatively impact food companies’ bottom-line, which explains why they appear to resist doing the right thing for children’s health,” Harris said.

The paper cites statistics showing that two-thirds of US children consume more than the recommended limit for added sugar, or roughly 10% of daily calories, with cereals among the top food sources for added sugar in children’s diets.

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October 26, 2022

Video ‘countermarketing’ can help cut demand for unhealthy food, study finds

by Shannon Kelleher

Viewing 45-second videos that explain common misperceptions about toddler milks and fruit drinks reduced caregivers’ intentions to serve these sweetened beverages to their young children, according to a study published today in the American Journal of Public Health.

The study’s findings suggest that countermarketing messages designed to illuminate problematic marketing techniques could reduce demand for unhealthy foods.

“We were delighted at the findings,” said Frances Fleming-Milici, a researcher with the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Health at the University of Connecticut and an author of the study. “We’re hoping that we have an opportunity to see effects on actual behavior and long-term behavior.”

“There isn’t a lot of research in countermarketing in the area of highly processed food, junk food,” said Chris Palmedo, an associate professor at the City University of New York School of Public Health. “[The study] confirms the gradual progress that research is making in this area.”

Previous research suggests many parents do not realize what they are really buying when they purchase toddler milks and kids’ fruit drinks. Popular fruit drinks often contain less than 10% juice and are packed with added sugars and diet sweeteners. Health claims on toddler milks, which are also sweetened, are not backed by science.
The American Academy of Pediatrics advises giving children under five mostly water and plain milk to drink, stating that sugar-sweetened beverages are “detrimental to child health,” artificial sweeteners’ health effects on kids are “not well-understood,” and toddler milks are “unnecessary for most children and provide no nutritional benefit over a healthy, balanced eating plan.”