Helping our children to be wise consumers
Thu Mar 20, 2008
Kids are influenced by what they see on television.
Overweight kids and childhood obesity are on the rise. So when kids see commercials promoting healthy, active lifestyles do you think they might pay attention? Canadian advertisers are counting on it and are doing their part to tackle the problem.
Recent developments in Canadian advertising rules and regulations will make it easier for companies to understand what they can advertise to kids and how, beefing up an already stringent system for protecting kids from inappropriate advertising.
Both the Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children and the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards now include new interpretive guidelines to help ensure advertising to children encourages responsible product use and that the amount of food shown or shown being consumed does not exceed an appropriate single serving size.
As part of the new Canadian Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, 15 leading Canadian food and beverage companies have announced they will devote at least 50 per cent of the ads that are directed to children under 12 toward the promotion of physical activity and of foods that are low in total calories, fats, salt and added sugars and higher in nutrients that contribute to good health.
By the time kids see these ads they will have gone through a rigorous pre-clearance system to ensure the messaging is suitable for impressionable young kids.
Teaching kids to be media-wise is important and helps them understand why ads exist in the first place, how they are made and what is real or not real.
More information is available on this topic at www.adstandards.com or www.cca-kids.ca.
- News Canada