Foods advertised on popular children's websites do not meet nutrition standards

Despite food company pledges to advertise only healthier foods to children, a Yale Rudd Center study finds that companies place billions of ads for unhealthy foods and beverages on children's websites. The study is the first to evaluate banner and other display advertising on websites that are popular with children, such as Nick.com and CartoonNetwork.com. Rudd Center researchers used syndicated Internet usage data from comScore to identify popular children's websites and the food advertisements viewed on those web sites from July 2009 through June 2010. Advertisements were classified according to food category and companies' participation in the food industry's self-regulatory program, the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI). Researchers also evaluated the nutritional quality of advertised products. Under the CFBAI, most large food companies have pledged to promote only healthier dietary choices in child-directed advertising, including display advertising on websites with a high proportion of child visitors. Researchers found that 3.4 billion display advertisements for food and beverages were viewed on popular children's websites annually.