A children's rights perspective on food advertising to children

International Journal of Children's Rights

Volumn 22, Issue 1, 2014, Pages 93-134

  Handsley, Elizabeth ^a   Coveney, John ^b   Mehta, Kaye ^a   Nehmy, Christopher ^a  

^a FLINDERS UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

^b Owen Dixon Chambers   (Australia)

Author keywords

childhood obesity; food advertising regulation; rights of the child

Indexed keywords

EID: 84896751362     PISSN: 09275568     EISSN: 15718182     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1163/15718182-55680024     Document Type: Article

References (137)

1. Members of the research team have also been engaged, with another colleague, in a study of food advertising on non-broadcast media: see Kaye Mehta, John Coveney, Paul Ward, Elizabeth Handsley, Children and Food Marketing Research Project. Final Report to SA Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia (2010).
2. Australian Communications and Media Authority, Review of the Children's Television Standards 2005: Final Report of the Review (2009), 9.
3. Agnes Nairn and Cordelia Fine, 'Who's Messing with My Mind?: The implications of dual-process models for the ethics of advertising to children' (2008) 27 International Journal of Advertising 447.
4. Fullerton, Ticky, Generation 'O' (2005) Retrieved 22 April 2008, from http://www.abc.net .au/4corners/content/2005/s1484310.htm.
5. Gerard Hastings et al, Review of Research on the Effects of Food Promotion to Children (2003), 33-36.
6. John, D., 'Through the eyes of a child: Children's Knowledge and Understanding of Advertising' in MC Macklin and L Carlson (eds), Advertising to Children-Concepts and Controversies (1999).
7. Robertson, T., and J. Rossiter 'Children and commercial persuasion: an attribution theory analysis' (1974) 1 Journal of Consumer Research, 13-20.
8. as cited in Hastings, above note 5, 35.
9. Story, M., and S. French, 'Food Advertising and Marketing Directed at Children and adolescents in the US' (2004) 1 International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity 3, 6.
10. Calvert, Sandra L., 'Children as Consumers: Advertising and Marketing' (2008) 18 The Future of Children 205, 218.
11. Nairn and Fine, above, note 3.
12. Australasian Society for the Study of Obesity, 'Fact Sheet-Obesity in Australian Children: Definition and Prevalence' 2005 [Online, accessed 4 July 2006] URL:http://www asso.org .au/freestyler/gui/files//factsheet-children- prevalence.pdf.
13. Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, Australian Food and Grocery Council and Australian Government Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry, 2007 Australian National Children's Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey-Main Findings (2008).
14. Lobstein, Tim and Sue Dibb, 'Evidence of a possible link between obesogenic food advertising and child overweight' (2006) 6 Obesity Reviews 203.
15. Magarey, Anthea et al, 'Prevalence of overweight and obesity in Australian children and adolescents: reassessment of 1985 and 1995 data against new standard international definitions' (2001) 174 Medical Journal of Australia 561, 563-4.
16. Sanigorski, Andrea, Comin Bell, Peter Kremer and Boyd Swinburn, 'High Childhood Obesity in an Australian Population' (2007) 15 Obesity Journal 1908.
17. Magarey et al, above, note 14.
18. Sanigorski et al, above, note 16, 1910.
19. Gill,Timothy et al, 'Childhood obesity in Australia remains a widespread health concern that warrants population-wide prevention programs' (2009) 190 Medical Journal of Australia 146.
20. Eckersley, Richard M., 'Losing the battle of the bulge: causes and consequences of increasing obesity' (2001) 174 The Medical Journal of Australia, 590, 591;
21. Brian Young, 'Does food advertising make children obese?' (2003) April-June Advertising and Marketing to Children 19-26, 24;
22. World Health Organisation, 'Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic' (1997) Report of the World Health Organisation on obesity; Magarey, above note 14, 563, 564;
23. Cara B Ebbeling et al, 'Childhood obesity: public-health crisis, common sense cure' (2002) 260 The Lancet 473, 475-79.
24. Calvert, above, note 10, 219.
25. Ries, Nola M., and Barbara von Tigerstrom, 'Legal Interventions to Address Obesity: Assessing the State of the Law in Canada' (2011) University of British Columbia Law Review 361, 407.
26. Hastings, above, note 5, 18;
27. JM McGinnis, JA Gootman and VI Kraak, Food Marketing to Children and Youth: Threat or Opportunity? (National Academies Press, 2006), Chapter 5.
28. Institute of Medicine, Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity: How Do We Measure Up? (2006), 307.
29. Swinburn, Boyd, Gary Egger and Fezeela Raza, 'Dissecting Obesogenic Environments: The development and application of a framework for identifying and prioritizing environmental interventions for obesity' (1999) 29 Preventive Medicine 563.
30. Nathan, Sally A., et al, 'An Australian childhood obesity summit: the role of data and evidence in "public" policy making' (2005) 2 Australia and New Zealand Health Policy Journal 17;
31. Elizabeth B. Waters and Louise A. Baur, 'Childhood obesity: modernity's scourge' (2003) 178 The Medical Journal of Australia 422.
32. Kelly, Bridget, et al, 'Television Food Advertising to Children: A Global Perspective' (2010) 100 American Journal of Public Health 1730.
33. See also Sue Dibb, A Spoonful of Sugar-television advertising aimed at children; an international comparative survey (1996), 22.
34. Kelly et al, above, note 27.
35. See also Jan M. Hill and Kathy L. Radimer, 'A content analysis of food advertisements in television for Australian children' (1997) 54 Australian Journal of Nutrition and Dietetics 174, 179-81;
36. Calvert, above, note 10, 212.
37. Neville, Leonie, Margaret Thomas and Adrian Bauman, 'Food advertising on Australian television: the extent of children's exposure' (2005) 20(2) Health Promotion International 105.
38. See also, M. K. Lewis and A. J. Hill 'Food advertising on British children's television: a content analysis and experimental study with nine year olds' (1998) 22 International Journal of Obesity 206, 210-211;
39. Hastings, above, note 5, 84-85.
40. Chapman, Kathy et al, 'How much food advertising is there on Australian television?' (2006) 21 Health Promotion International 172, 172.
41. Kelly, Bridget, Libby Hattersley, Lesley King and Victoria Flood, 'Persuasive food marketing to children: use of cartoons and competitions in Australian commercial television advertisements' (2008) 23(4) Health Promotion International 337.
42. Lobstein and Dibb, above note 13, 203;
43. World Health Organisation, Obesity: Preventing and Managing the Global Epidemic, Report of a World Health Organisation, Technical Report Series No. 894 (2000).
44. Must, Aviva et al, 'Long term morbidity and mortality of overweight adolescents-A follow up of the Harvard Growth Study of 1922 to 1935' (1992) 327 New England Journal of Medicine 1350, 1354.
45. Dietz, William H., 'Health Consequences of Obesity in Youth: Childhood Predictors of Adult Disease' (1998) 101 Pediatrics 518, 518.
46. Hayne, Cheryl L. et al, 'Regulating Environments to Reduce Obesity' (2004) 25 Journal of Public Health Policy 319, 391.
47. Better Health Channel, Obesity (2008) [1] http://www.betterhealth.vic. gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Obesity?open at 20 August 2008.
48. ftc Improvements Act 1980 (USA), ss. 11(a)(1), 11(a)(3).
49. These are the periods during which the broadcaster has indicated that it will show special children's programmes in fulfilment of a quota.
50. See, for example, Consumer Protection Act 1980 (Que), s. 249;
51. Radio and Television Act 1996 (Swe), s. 4.
52. Kaye Mehta, Letter of complaint to Australian Broadcasting Authority (June 2004).
53. Justine Cawood, Legal Counsel, Regulatory and Business Affairs, Seven Network (Operations) Limited, Letter addressed to Kaye Mehta, Coalition on Food Advertising to Children, Re: Complaint regarding advertisement for Coco Pops (22 July 2004).
54. For example, the Australian Children's Content standards, the most stringent restrictions in that jurisdiction, apply during 'C periods' which in practice fall between 4.00 p.m and 4.30 p.m. on weekdays, and early in the morning on weekends.
55. acma, Children's Television Standards Review Issues Paper (2007), 19.
56. See also O. Carter, The weighty issue of childhood obesity and television food advertising in Australia (2006) 17 Health Promotion Journal of Australia 5-11, 7;
57. Tim Olds et al, 'Screenyboppers and extreme screenies: the place of screen time in the time budgets of 10-13 year old Australian children' (2006) 30 Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 137.
58. Government of South Australia (SA Health), Television advertising and the consumption of unhealthy food and drinks by children: Consultation Paper August 2008, 17.
59. Children's Television Act 1990 (US).
60. Broadcasting Act 1992 (Nrw), s. 3-1.
61. Radio and Television Act 1996 (Swe), s. 7b.
62. OfCom, Television Advertising of Food and Drink Products to Children: Final Statement (2007), 28.
63. Roberts, Donald F. and Ulla G. Foehr, 'Trends in Media Use' (2008) 18 Children and Electronic Media 11.
64. See also caru, Self-Regulatory Program for Children's Advertising (8th ed, 2006), 7-8.
65. cts 5.
66. fbamcc, cl. 3.6.
67. Directive 89/552/EEC, Television without Frontiers Directive, art. 2.
68. Council Directive 89/552/EEC as amended by Directive 2007/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2007 amending Council Directive 89/9/552/EEC on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities, art. 3.2.
69. caru, above, note 56, 5.
70. Fried, Ellen J., 'Assessing Effectiveness of Self-Regulation: A Case Study of the Children's Advertising Review Unit' (2006) 39 Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 93, 137.
71. Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (Cth), ss. 205E-205ZF.
72. See http://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg- no=IV-11&chapter =4&lang=en.
73. See, e.g., Michael Freeman, Article 3: The Best Interests of the Child (Martinus Nijhoff, 2007), 53-56;
74. Michael Freeman, 'Laws, Conventions and Rights' (1993) 7 Children and Society 37, 44.
75. See, e.g., Freeman (2007), above, note 67, 56-59;
76. Rita Shackel, 'The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: A review of its successes and future directions' [2003] Australian International Law Journal 21, 54-55;
77. John Tobin, 'Beyond the Supermarket Shelf: Using a Rights-Based Approach to Address Children's Health Needs' (2006) 14 International Journal of Children's Rights 275.
78. Freeman (2007), above, note 67, 70;
79. Michael Freeman, 'The Best Interests of the Child? Is The Best Interests of the Child in the Best Interests of Children?' (1997) 11 International Journal of Law and the Family 360, 375-77.
80. Shackel, above, note 68, 40.
81. Michael Freeman, 'The Future of Children's Rights' (2000) 14 Children and Society 277, 282-85.
82. Freeman says that 'much more needs to be done everywhere to increase awareness of the life-chances of children.
83. For that is what ultimately their best interests are about': Freeman (2007), above, note 67, 60.
84. See also Mitchell Woolf, 'Coming of age?-the principle of the "best interests of the child"' (2003) 2 European Human Rights Law Review 205, 210.
85. Freeman (2000), above, note 71, 287.
86. Freeman (2007), above, note 67, 56 (footnotes omitted).
87. Boyd Swinburn et al, 'The "Sydney Principles" for reducing the commercial promotion of foods and beverages to children' (2008) 11 Public Health Nutrition 881, 882.
88. Tobin, above, note 68;
89. Richard Ingleby et al, 'uncroc and the prevention of childhood obesity: The right not to have food advertisements on television' (2008) 16 Journal of Law and Medicine 49.
90. See below under the heading The 'best interests of the child'.
91. Ingleby et al, above, note 76, 55-56.
92. See also Freeman (2007), above, note 67, 43 on reliance on economic difficulties as an excuse for neglecting children's interests.
93. Ingleby et al, above, note 76, 56.
94. For example, those provisions that apply only to advertising 'directed at' children and so on: see above under the heading The Target Audience.
95. For example cts 31 on 'Pressure in advertisements'. See above under the heading 'Pester Power' and Parent-Child Relations.
96. Detrick, Sharon, A Commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1999), 295.
97. See above, text accompanying note 4.
98. See also art. 24 on children's health (discussed below).
99. Freeman (2007), above, note 67, 67.
100. See also Tobin, above, note 68, 283 (describing the 'tripartite relationship of accountability between parents, the State and the international community').
101. Woolf, above, note 72, 207.
102. Guggenheim describes as '[r]egrettabl[e]' the 'propensity to separate children's interests from their parents": Martin Guggenheim, What's Wrong with Children's Rights (Harvard University Press, 2005), 13.
103. Tobin, above, note 68, 284.
104. Buijzen, M. and P. Valkenburg, 'The Effects of Television Advertising on Materialism, Parent-Child Conflict, and Unhappiness: A review of research' (2003) 24 Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 437.
105. Broadcast Code of Advertising Practice (UK), s. 7.2.2.
106. Shackel, above, note 68, 27.
107. See Freeman (2007), above, note 67, 30-31.
108. (arguing that art. 3(1) 'could have offered a checklist of factors'); Woolf, above, note 72, 208.
109. Freeman (2007), above, note 67, 5.
110. See generally, Herdís Thorgeirsdóttir, A Commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: Article 13 The Right to Freedom of Expression (Martinus Nijhoff, 2006).
111. Alderman, Jess et al, 'Application of Law to the Childhood Obesity Epidemic' (2003) 35 Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 90, 98.
112. Freeman (2007), above, note 67, 28.
113. Thorgeirsdottír, above, note 95, 15.
114. Thorgeirsdottír, above, note 95, 19.
115. Ingleby et al argue that on a human rights approach it is not necessary to demonstrate that a ban on advertising would reduce rates of obesity, only that the advertising is 'injurious to [children's] health': Ingleby et at, above, note 76, 56.
116. See Ries & von Tigerstrom, above, note 22, 372.
117. See generally Alderman, above, note 96, 91.
118. See above, text accompanying footnote 2.
119. See Ries & von Tigerstrom, above note 22, 393 (applying the same logic to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms).
120. Compare Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), s. 60CA.
121. See above, note 87.
122. See Freeman (2007), above, note 67, 45-47;
123. Detrick, above, note 83, 90.
124. See Television Without Frontiers Directive, Preamble.
125. See Philip Alston et al, Children, Rights and the Law (1992), vi-vii.
126. See, for example, Detrick, above, note 83, 558-73.
127. Calvert, above, note 11, 215.
128. Kunkel, Dale, 'Children and Television Advertising' in DG Singer and JL Singer, Handbook of Children and the Media (Sage Publications, 2001);
129. M Buijzen and P Valkenburg, 'The Unintended Effects of Television Advertising: A parent-child survey' (2003) 30 Communication Research 483;
130. Agnes Nairn, Business Thinks Family (Family and Parenting Institute, 2009).
131. States Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to ... The preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin.'
132. See also Thorgeirsdottír, above note 95, 18-19.
133. Thorgeirsdottír, above, note 95, 42.
134. The idea that States Parties might have positive obligations to regulate private parties is called 'horizontal effects': Detrick, above, note 83, 31.
135. Article 29(1)(c).
136. As Veerman has written, the crc 'promotes children's welfare as an issue of justice rather than one of charity': P Veerman, The rights of the child and the changing image of childhood (Martinus Nijhoff, 1992), 184
137. (quoted in Freeman (2000), above note 71, 277).