Food Marketing and the Impact of Product Placement on Childhood Obesity

Webinar Description

Today’s youth have more exposure to commercial advertisement than ever before. With multiple sources of targeting in the physical and digital spaces, today’s youth are learning to identify and trust brands at an early age. These food brands are using commercial marketing tactics, similar to the tobacco and vape industry, like color variety, flavors, using popular influencers and product placement in stores and schools. Existing “information environments” that exclude health promoting items and disproportionately include health deterring items must be considered as part of the social context in which we address childhood obesity. Such predatory practices are leading to a rapid increase in consumption of unhealthy foods and bad nutrition habits right under our noses.  By identifying these subtle tactics, we can start to break down the relationships between the junk food industry and the daily life habits of our young people and pivot that exposure to create greater attention to more nutritious best practices, messages and placement.

In this one-hour webinar, you will learn:

• How the food industry is using historical tobacco marketing tactics to sell unhealthy foods to today’s youth.
• How to identify the places and frequency in which our youth are being exposed to unhealthy food.
• To incorporate a variety of solutions on a local level at home and in our schools that limit our youth exposure to these unhealthy foods.

Panelists

Julie Ralston Aoki, JD, works on public policy for the public good.  She directs the Healthy Eating and Active Living team at the Public Health Law Center. She supports Tribal, state, and local communities in developing laws and policies to support healthy food systems, healthy eating, and physical activity in ways that advance health equity. She is the past president and current member of the Minnesota Community Health Worker Alliance Board, a volunteer member of the Robbinsdale Human Rights Commission, and the parent of three kids.

Yvonne Boadi, a high school senior in Norfolk, is one of Y Street’s dynamic Leadership Team members who work towards achieving the program’s overarching goal of creating a healthier Virginia. With a focus and passion for digital communications, she is excited to share her experience of learning remotely and communicating in a new digital era.

Dr. Frances Fleming serves as Director of Marketing Initiatives at the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity, University of Connecticut and received her PhD in Communication at the University of Connecticut. For over 10 years she has conducted research and published reports and academic papers analyzing the amount, type, and nutrition of food and beverages marketed to children, adolescents, and parents of young children, including assessing race/ethnicity-based targeted marketing practices.