By Amanda Cuda, Connecticut Post, Bridgeport
(MCT)
Nov. 05--As a mother of three young children, Danielle Elwood, of Shelton, knows how
susceptible they can be to television commercials.
"At night, when I'm watching TV, they'll see all kinds of random stuff
advertised and they're like 'Mommy, can I get that?'" said Elwood, whose
oldest child is 3.
That's why she was disturbed, but not surprised, to learn that children's
and teens' exposure to ads for full-calorie soda doubled between 2008 and
2010, according to a recent study by the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and
Obesity.
The study analyzed more than 600 soft drink products -- including sodas,
fruit drinks, and energy drinks -- looking at their nutritional content and
how they were marketed, particularly to young people. Researchers found that,
among other things, beverage companies spent $948 million to advertise sugary
drinks and energy drinks in 2010, a 5 percent increase from 2008. Among the
top six advertisers of these products, only PepsiCo had decreased its spending
between 2008 and 2010, by $92 million.
Marlene Schwartz, deputy director of the Rudd Center and the study's
co-author, said the soft drink study is similar to studies the center has done
in the past about marketing techniques used by fast food companies and cereal
companies. "We just want to get a comprehensive sense of the kind of marketing
kids are exposed to," she said.
Schwartz said she was alarmed to see that kids were being exposed to more
ads for sugary drinks than ever, particularly in light of the Children's Food
and Beverage Advertising Initiative, launched in 2006 by the Council of Better
Business Bureaus. That voluntary effort requires participating companies to
cease paying for or actively seeking to place their food and beverage products
in content aimed at kids age 12 and younger.
"The industry made such a big deal about that, I didn't expect kids'
exposure to go up," Schwartz said.
Schwartz said PepsiCo was the only one whose ads made contact with fewer
young, impressionable eyeballs. Between 2008 and 2010, children were exposed
to 22 percent fewer commercials for the company's sugary drink products.
The study also showed some evidence that companies were targeting
advertisements to black and Hispanic audiences. According to the study, black
children and teens viewed 80 to 90 percent more TV ads for these drinks than
their white peers. Part of this discrepancy is due to higher TV viewing in
those populations.
Black youths saw more than twice as many ads for Sprite, 5-hour Energy
and Vitamin Water as white children and teens. The study also found that,
between 2008 and 2010, Hispanic children saw 49 percent more ads for sugary
drinks and energy drinks on Spanish-language TV, and Hispanic teens saw 99
percent more ads.
The American Beverage Association has taken issue with several of the
study's findings. In a statement, the association states that, between 2004
and 2010, advertisements for soft drinks during children's programs have
declined 96 percent, and points out other efforts made to limit kids' exposure
to high-calorie soft drinks. These include the removal of full-calorie soft
drinks from schools. Given that, the charges put forth in Yale's study are
unfair, said Chris Gindlesperger, director of communications for the
association.
"We don't disagree that obesity is a very serious issue facing our
country," he said. "(But) we're much more part of the solution than the
problem. For these guys to single out one industry like this doesn't make
sense."
But Elwood said she isn't surprised Yale's study revealed that soda
companies and the like are spending more on advertising. She thinks parents,
and consumers in general, are starting to cut back on sugary drinks as part of
a recent trend toward being more nutrition-conscious.
"Everybody's been on a health kick lately and everybody's been on a green
kick," Elwood said.
She said it makes sense that beverage companies would want to respond to
that trend by pouring more bucks into marketing.
Gindlesperger said the association abides by "responsible advertising
practices," which include not advertising sugary drinks during shows aimed at
children.
But Schwartz said that just because a show isn't aimed at children
doesn't mean that it, and the commercials that air during it, aren't seen.
"We don't care about which shows (companies) put the commercials on," she
said. "We care about what the kids actually saw."
Regardless of how advertising dollars are spent, the Yale report does
concede that sales of sugary drinks have fallen in recent years. Consumption
of carbonated soft drinks declined 13 percent between 2005 and 2010, and fruit
drink consumption went down about 17 percent over that time period. Still,
many health advocates believe the dip isn't steep enough, particularly
considering the impact sweet drinks can have on a child's health. The Yale
study reports that drinking just one 8-ounce sugary drink every day increases
a child's odds of becoming obese by 60 percent.
And don't think you're doing your child a favor by giving him or her a
fruit drink. The study found that an 8-ounce serving of the average
full-calorie fruit drink has 110 calories and seven teaspoons of sugar -- the
same amount as in an 8-ounce serving of the average full-calorie soda or
energy drink.
Elwood, for one, tries to be aware of what her little ones are drinking
and is a passionate crusader against soda and other sweet beverages. "Even for
adults, I think it's something we shouldn't consume too much of," said Elwood,
also a blogger who writes predominantly about parenting issues. "And I'm
really vigilant about what I give my kids to drink."
Her kid-friendly beverage of choice is fruit juice, heavily diluted with
water to lessen its sugar content.
Pediatric endocrinologist Judith Hochstadt, of Pediatric Healthcare
Associates in Trumbull, is also anti-soft drink. "It's one of the biggest risk
factors as far as calorie intake," she said.
The Yale study reported that sugary drinks contribute 22 percent of empty
calories consumed by children and teens, and that soda is the No. 1 source of
calories in teen diets.
The report backs up what Hochstadt has long believed -- that despite
efforts like removing soft drinks from schools, most beverage companies have
not been accountable.
"They've not done things to rein themselves in," she said.
So how do parents protect their kids from sugary drinks and the
commercials that hawk them? Schwartz said one of the biggest steps parents can
take is simply reading beverage labels to check for calories, sugar content,
and juice content (in fruit drinks), as well as caffeine and artificial
sweeteners. Children should not have more than 15 grams of added sugar per
day.
Hochstadt, meanwhile, recommends coming up with some creative soft drink
ideas of your own. When raising her own children, she said, she would give
them seltzer water flavored with a small amount of orange and/or cranberry
juice and call it "punch." And, of course, Hochstadt said, parents can
continue to make their displeasure with beverage companies known the
old-fashioned way: with their wallets.
"If people stop buying these products, it will make a difference," she
said.
Reach Amanda Cuda at acuda@ctpost.com or 203-330-6290. Follow at
twitter.com/AmandaCuda.
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