tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/junk-food-ads-30377/articlesJunk food ads – The Conversation2023-04-26T16:37:16Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2036022023-04-26T16:37:16Z2023-04-26T16:37:16ZHow watching others eat junk food can suppress our appetite and help us lose weight<p>One evening, at home. You’re sat comfortably on the sofa, watching your favourite TV show. An ad comes up, showing a scrumptious burger in its full glory. The camera zooms into each ingredient: the crisp salad; the tender meat; the rich, creamy sauce; the crunchy French fries, and one person enjoying this delightful flavour range. You think to yourself that your diet is about to take a hit. But we beg to differ.</p>
<p>In a series of studies published in the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/07439156211019035">Journal of Public Policy & Marketing</a>, we found advertisements showing people eating junk food prompted people on a diet to eat less. While this may seem counterintuitive, these findings are in line with previous research on <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006899306000102">mental imagery</a>. Recent studies show merely imagining ourselves carrying out actions or experiencing emotions activates similar neural networks to those linked with their actual performance or experience.</p>
<h2>What happens when we imagine ourselves eating?</h2>
<p>The images we are exposed to throughout our lives hold the power to shape our experiences to a remarkable degree. According to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811904005208">neuroimage studies</a>, the mere sight of someone being hit by a hammer will fire up the neural networks in our brain that are associated with pain. As a result, these images will trigger emotions and behaviour consistent with feelings of pain.</p>
<p>Such effects also extend to food consumption. The field of consumption imagery refers to rich images of food consumption - for example, an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99Aain-xwEk">ad</a> showing the close-up of a pizza and someone eating it. <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/38/3/578/1809949">Some studies</a> have even indicated consumption imagery could cause people to wrongly recall having eaten the food on display.</p>
<p>Why is this important? This is important because simply thinking that we have eaten something can make us feel full. In 2010, <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.1195701">researchers</a> asked people to picture themselves eating either 3 or 30 M&M’s chocolates. They then handed them a bowl of sweets to eat. People who had imagined themselves eating 30 of the button-shaped chocolates ended up feeling satiated and ate fewer sweets compared to those who imagined eating only 3. With our research, we decided to take this question to the next level and test if the effect holds when people see someone else eating in an ad.</p>
<h2>If you are dieting, seeing someone eating makes you eat less</h2>
<p>We invited 132 dieting students at our lab at the Grenoble Ecole de Management to watch an ad. Half of them saw an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CruCJnnyfoE">M&M’s advertisement</a> brimming with consumption imagery: sweets, colours, and a person eating them. The other half of the students saw an ad with two animated <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMFtRuXIotk">M&M’s at a supermarket till</a>, devoid of consumption imagery. We then gave each student a 70g cup of M&M’s and asked them to eat to their heart’s content. Among the students, those who saw the M&M’s advertisement containing consumption imagery ate fewer sweets than those who saw the ad without.</p>
<p>We followed up this study with another one where 130 students saw <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAfTSlpU80Q">an advertisement for a hamburger</a>. Out of the volunteer pool, half were asked to visualise themselves eating the hamburger, and the other half were asked to imagine filming it. Students then received a silver bag of chocolate-coated biscuits sticks to eat. Those who watched the ad and imagined eating the hamburger ate fewer chocolate-coated biscuits than those who only imagined filming it.</p>
<p>Both studies are proof that the mere sight of someone eating junk food or of junk food alone is enough to put dieters off it, at least for a time.</p>
<h2>How can dieting campaigns help you eat less?</h2>
<p>In the next study, we tested whether we could use these findings to promote healthy eating. We predicted that healthy eating promotion campaigns heavy on unhealthy consumption imagery would have a stronger effect on dieters. We designed four ads to incentivise healthy eating:</p>
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<span class="caption">Credit: Mia Birau and Carolina O.C. Werle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523010/original/file-20230426-14-1y9j6v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523010/original/file-20230426-14-1y9j6v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523010/original/file-20230426-14-1y9j6v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523010/original/file-20230426-14-1y9j6v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523010/original/file-20230426-14-1y9j6v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523010/original/file-20230426-14-1y9j6v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523010/original/file-20230426-14-1y9j6v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Credit: Mia Birau and Carolina O.C. Werle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523008/original/file-20230426-20-wt22aw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523008/original/file-20230426-20-wt22aw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523008/original/file-20230426-20-wt22aw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523008/original/file-20230426-20-wt22aw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523008/original/file-20230426-20-wt22aw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523008/original/file-20230426-20-wt22aw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523008/original/file-20230426-20-wt22aw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Credit: Mia Birau and Carolina O.C. Werle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523009/original/file-20230426-26-l2qtq0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523009/original/file-20230426-26-l2qtq0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523009/original/file-20230426-26-l2qtq0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523009/original/file-20230426-26-l2qtq0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523009/original/file-20230426-26-l2qtq0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523009/original/file-20230426-26-l2qtq0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523009/original/file-20230426-26-l2qtq0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Credit: Mia Birau and Carolina O.C. Werle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>In total, 594 American adults were recruited to participate in our online study. Each participant was randomly selected to view one of the four ads. We then asked them to </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“<em>imagine that you are about to have a snack and you open a bag of chips. There are 20 chips in the bag. How many potato chips would you eat RIGHT NOW?</em>” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>People who viewed the campaign requiring them to imagine themselves wolfing down the French fries indicated a desire to eat fewer chips than those who were exposed to the French fries campaign without consumption imagery. Those who had imagined themselves eating an apple were more inclined to succumb to the potato chips than those who had visualised themselves eating the French fries.</p>
<p>These results go against the grain of current public policy practices that aim to promote healthy eating by relying on <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/campaign-launched-to-help-public-get-healthy-this-summer">images of nutritious foods</a>. However, our research indicates that healthy eating campaigns should include and portray the consumption of unhealthy food. Indeed, dieters imagining themselves eating junk food consciously associate it with a failure to reach their weight loss goals. </p>
<h2>What is the takeaway for you?</h2>
<p>Today people prioritize their <a href="https://www.theinspiredhomeshow.com/blog/consumers-prioritize-health-and-wellness-for-2023/">health and well-being</a> more and more. If you are one of the many who set dieting and healthier eating as <a href="https://civicscience.com/what-will-americans-resolve-to-change-in-2023/">their number 1 resolution for 2023</a>, our tip to you is that you resist the urge to cover your eyes when seemingly tempting ads pop up. Instead, engage with them fully, imagining your lips reaching out to the prohibited food. As science would have it, this might just cut down your unhealthy eating habits.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203602/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Les auteurs ne travaillent pas, ne conseillent pas, ne possèdent pas de parts, ne reçoivent pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'ont déclaré aucune autre affiliation que leur organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Healthy eating campaigns tend to put forward images of nutritious foods. But science shows there is a more effective and counterintuitive way of steering people away from junk food.Birau Mia, Associate Professor of Marketing, EM Lyon Business SchoolCarolina O.C. Werle, Professor of Marketing, Grenoble École de Management (GEM)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/923822018-02-27T10:44:11Z2018-02-27T10:44:11ZChildren are far from protected from junk food ads – especially on social media<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208027/original/file-20180227-36706-1edakee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-boy-eating-fresh-burger-junk-655318876?src=KgUriHMoTUc5CqSG526qRQ-1-0">Natalie_Barth/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>From spreading <a href="https://www.martenscentre.eu/publications/weeding-out-fake-news-approach-social-media-regulation">fake news</a>, to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306460316301095">fostering narcissism</a> and <a href="https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/news-and-blogs/our-blog/social-media-giants-must-get-tougher-on-cyberbullying">online bullying</a>, social media is under increasing fire. The question of how to harness its potential while limiting negative effects is one of the biggest of our age. And its effects on children’s physical and mental health is perhaps one of the greatest challenges.</p>
<p>Yet among all this debate about how social media has changed our lives, children’s exposure to <a href="http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/322226/Tackling-food-marketing-children-digital-world-trans-disciplinary-perspectives-en.pdf">advertising on social media</a> is rarely discussed. This is ironic, as advertising pays for social media. It drives the design of new platforms, which <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/free-speech-issue-tech-turmoil-new-censorship/">relentlessly seek to capture</a> users’ attention.</p>
<p>Advertising to children is widely regarded as ethically problematic. Young children <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/doi/10.1002/cb.69/full">cannot distinguish</a> between advertising and editorial or entertainment content; and <a href="http://www.open.edu/openlearn/health-sports-psychology/psychology/ads-our-time-are-teens-susceptible-food-ads-digital-media">older children</a>, even if they rationally understand the selling intent behind advertising, are often still subject to its <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/doi/abs/10.2501/S0265048708080062">emotional and unconscious influence</a>. </p>
<p>Junk food advertising, which is linked to increased child weight and obesity, sharpens this ethical issue, compounding it with health concerns. From three years of age, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666314002177">children recognise</a> more unhealthy than healthy food brand logos. Children hold many rights under the <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/ProfessionalInterest/crc.pdf">UN Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>, including the right to health, which governments have a duty to protect in the best interests of the child. Yet very <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session26/Documents/A-HRC-26-31_en.doc">few states</a> have regulated food advertising effectively to fulfil their legal obligations under the convention.</p>
<h2>Targeted ads</h2>
<p>Regulators do seek to protect children from harmful effects of TV advertising. But they typically focus on advertising “<a href="https://www.asa.org.uk/uploads/assets/uploaded/db4d66de-e5da-4509-a4c626ed15c6f00c.pdf">targeted at</a>”, “<a href="http://www.asrcreviews.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Self-Regulatory-Program-for-Childrens-Advertising-Revised-2014-.pdf">directed at</a>”, or “<a href="http://www.mprt.se/documents/styrdokument/radio%20and%20television%20act.pdf">designed to attract the attention of</a>”, children. These phrases <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/31857/hfss-review-final.pdf">have proven</a> far too narrow. Most adverts that children see in broadcast media or the physical environment do not specifically “target” them; they are shown during family TV programmes such as prime-time sitcoms and reality shows, on billboards and bus shelters, or around sports fields where children and families watch their teams play.</p>
<p>In 2010 Ofcom (the UK’s communications regulator) published a <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/31857/hfss-review-final.pdf">review</a> of the effectiveness of its 2007 rules banning junk food advertising in and around UK children’s TV programmes. It concluded that broadcasters had largely complied, but advertisers shifted to unregulated programmes, and as adult airtime accounted for nearly 70% of children’s viewing, children were still exposed to high levels of junk food advertising.</p>
<p>Therefore, as the WHO has repeatedly stressed <a href="http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/44416/1/9789241500210_eng.pdf">since 2010</a>, children’s overall exposure to junk food marketing needs to be reduced, wherever it’s encountered. And now, as the broadcast era cedes to online media dominance, <a href="http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/322226/Tackling-food-marketing-children-digital-world-trans-disciplinary-perspectives-en.pdf">ethical and health concerns</a> about <a href="https://irishheart.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web__whos_feeding_the_kids_online_report_2016.compressed.pdf">junk food advertising to children</a> are magnified. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208032/original/file-20180227-36693-n5f8z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208032/original/file-20180227-36693-n5f8z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208032/original/file-20180227-36693-n5f8z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208032/original/file-20180227-36693-n5f8z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208032/original/file-20180227-36693-n5f8z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208032/original/file-20180227-36693-n5f8z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208032/original/file-20180227-36693-n5f8z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bombarded with junk food.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wendy Kaveney Photography/Shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<h2>Social media</h2>
<p>Social media platforms hold vast data banks on all their users, offering advertisers detailed menus of options for <a href="https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-advertising/">targeting</a> ads. They do so not only with basic demographics such as <a href="http://www.open.edu/openlearn/health-sports-psychology/young-peoples-health/top-5-things-junk-food-marketers-know-about-your-child">age or location</a>, but even <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/114/48/12714">psychological characteristics and preferences</a>, increasing all consumers’ susceptibility to advertising. </p>
<p>Platforms also <a href="http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/322226/Tackling-food-marketing-children-digital-world-trans-disciplinary-perspectives-en.pdf">use children’s data</a> to hone ad targeting. They identify children who are most interested in or vulnerable to junk food and its advertising, thereby sharpening children’s vulnerability and posing profound ethical questions about the business of advertising persuasion in the 21st century.</p>
<p>Yet the very means of targeting children with ads in social media now provides regulators with an opportunity. Governments could protect children much more effectively – if they were brave, and if the food industry, advertisers and social media platforms complied. </p>
<p>We are particularly intrigued by new provisions in <a href="http://health.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/29835_Dept.Health_code.pdf">a new code</a> adopted by Ireland’s Department of Health, even if it is voluntary, rather than mandatory. The code contains a potentially disruptive new provision stating that “marketing Communications for HFSS [high fat, salt and sugar] food by means of social media shall not target children under the age of 15”. </p>
<p>This is a significant advance on <a href="https://www.asa.org.uk/asset/98337008-FA03-481B-92392CB3487720A8/">recent UK online junk food marketing restrictions</a>, because it applies to all social media, rather than to sites targeting children. Why might it prove so powerful? Because the very concept of “targeted at” children, which was not effective at regulating marketing in other media, could now attack the precise way in which ads are pushed out to children in social media.</p>
<h2>Will it be effective?</h2>
<p>It remains to be seen how this provision will apply. Ireland’s code of practice is merely voluntary, rather than mandatory, and without effective enforcement, it could create a false sense of security, as earlier regulations have done. And there is uncertainty about the accuracy of age information in social media. We know that <a href="https://www.internetmatters.org/hub/expert-opinion/digital-doormen-dont-ask-for-id/">many children lie about their age</a> to be able to sign up to certain platforms. </p>
<p>On the other hand, this provision might eventually prove even more radical than it first appears. Consider other means of spreading advertising around social media, such as sharing posts or tagging friends, which advertisers frequently <a href="https://irishheart.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web__whos_feeding_the_kids_online_report_2016.compressed.pdf">urge users to do</a>. Theoretically this new provision in Ireland’s code could – and we argue that it should – mean that tagging and sharing junk food ads with under-15s is also barred. </p>
<p>If that were the case it could have a powerful consciousness-raising effect: every time you tried to tag a young person, you would get a reminder of the role that junk food advertising plays in childhood obesity. Now that really would be progress for children’s health and rights.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92382/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mimi Tatlow-Golden currently receives funding from The Wellcome Trust to examine social media and food marketing and has formerly received research funding from Safefood, the all-Ireland Food Safety Authority, the Irish Heart Foundation and The World Health Organization.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amandine Garde has received funding from the World Health Organization and from the Economic and Social Research Council in the UK to carry out research on the relationship between food marketing, law, healthy diets and obesity prevention.
I do not accept any funding from a broad range of industries, not least the food, alcohol and tobacco industries. Nor does the Law & NCD Unit which I have set up. This is intended to protect the credibility of our research and ensure that there is no real, perceived or potential conflict of interest.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Handsley has received funding from the South Australian Health Department, the Australian Research Council, the Harvard Australian Studies Committee and the Australian National Preventative Health Agency. She is the President of the Australian Council on Children and the Media. </span></em></p>Social media platforms can identify children who are most interested in or vulnerable to junk food and its advertising.Mimi Tatlow-Golden, Lecturer in Developmental Psychology and Childhood, The Open UniversityAmandine Garde, Professor of Law, University of LiverpoolElizabeth Handsley, Professor of Law, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/728752017-05-25T20:27:11Z2017-05-25T20:27:11ZFat nation: the rise and fall of obesity on the political agenda<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169070/original/file-20170512-32593-1cfqyw4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Why have successive federal governments not regulated junk food marketing to control obesity? The reasons aren't as obvious as you might think.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/120162430?src=ScvoEvuMQwqJpWqFxMhVyQ-1-48&size=medium_jpg">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When we hear the word “obesity”, the words “<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-20/four-things-australia-could-do-to-tackle-the-obesity-crisis/8285280">crisis</a>” or “<a>epidemic</a>” often follow. And as being overweight, obese and eating an unhealthy diet are <a href="http://ihmeuw.org/435v">leading contributors</a> to disease in Australia, evidence is mounting that “tackling obesity” <em>should</em> be a <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-were-losing-the-battle-of-the-bulge-the-politics-of-obesity-prevention-8304">political priority</a>. </p>
<p>But obesity is a tough political challenge. Some have referred to it as “<a href="http://www.who.int/sdhconference/resources/implementinghiapadel-sahealth-100622.pdf">a test case for 21st century health policy</a>” and as a “<a href="http://www.who.int/sdhconference/resources/implementinghiapadel-sahealth-100622.pdf">wicked problem</a>”. That’s partly because there are many interconnected <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-driving-the-worldwide-obesity-epidemic-70153">drivers of obesity</a>, there is no “quick fix”, and because many stakeholders stand to win or lose from policy responses.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/fat-nation-why-so-many-australians-are-obese-and-how-to-fix-it-23783">Obesity</a> has <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312645434_Generating_political_priority_for_regulatory_interventions_targeting_obesity_prevention_An_Australian_case_study">risen and fallen</a> on Australia’s political agenda. But unlike tobacco control policies, which included both legislative and non-legislative interventions, the federal government has gone for a “light touch” approach, including the voluntary <a href="http://healthstarrating.gov.au/internet/healthstarrating/publishing.nsf/content/home">Health Star Rating</a> food labelling scheme, social marketing campaigns and school sports programs. </p>
<p>Many of these are important, even if flawed. But they are unlikely to resolve the problem without stronger regulatory controls on the marketing, labelling, content and <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2017/206/3/obesity-epidemic-and-sugar-sweetened-beverages-taxing-time">pricing</a> of energy-dense foods and beverages.</p>
<p>Yet political priority for such regulation has been low. Our <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312645434_Generating_political_priority_for_regulatory_interventions_targeting_obesity_prevention_An_Australian_case_study">research</a> investigated why.</p>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>We studied the rise and fall of obesity prevention on the federal government’s agenda between 1990 and 2011. </p>
<p>First, we measured how often politicians used the word “obesity” in their parliamentary speeches. Next, we analysed media and policy documents, and interviewed 27 people, including those from government, civil society, academia and industry, to understand the barriers to prioritising a regulatory approach to managing obesity.</p>
<p>Although obesity rates rose steadily from the 1980s onwards, our results (below) show, relative to tobacco, obesity only received political attention from the early-2000s.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167879/original/file-20170504-5995-14p3qqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167879/original/file-20170504-5995-14p3qqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167879/original/file-20170504-5995-14p3qqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167879/original/file-20170504-5995-14p3qqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167879/original/file-20170504-5995-14p3qqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167879/original/file-20170504-5995-14p3qqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167879/original/file-20170504-5995-14p3qqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Attention to obesity versus tobacco in federal parliament, 1990-2011.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There were two distinct periods of attention. In 2002, new evidence on the rise of childhood obesity <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1198217/">placed it on</a> the New South Wales government’s agenda. This in turn triggered other state governments to respond. Obesity then <a href="http://www.health.gov.au/Internet/healthyactive/publishing.nsf/Content/activities_2004.pdf/$File/activities_2004.pdf">caught the attention</a> of the Howard government in 2004, before falling away again.</p>
<p>More recently, the issue was raised in the Rudd government’s <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2008/189/10/australia-healthiest-country-2020?0=ip_login_no_cache%3D4c4633b9a0d26e4dd148278f93dea22d">preventative health policy agenda</a>. However, political priority for regulatory intervention failed to emerge.</p>
<p>So how can we explain this high level of political attention, but low political priority for regulatory interventions? We identified several key barriers.</p>
<h2>What are the political barriers?</h2>
<p>First, we found that powerful food and advertising industry groups have <a href="https://theconversation.com/big-food-lobbying-tip-of-the-iceberg-exposed-23232">strongly opposed regulation every step of the way</a>. Their power stemmed largely from their economic importance as industries and employers, <a href="https://theconversation.com/big-food-with-a-regional-flavour-how-australias-food-lobby-works-28213">their access to and influence with political decision-makers</a> and their adoption of pre-emptive self-regulatory codes (for instance on marketing and <a href="https://theconversation.com/states-should-stand-up-to-the-food-industry-on-traffic-light-labelling-4504">food labelling</a>). </p>
<p>Only one of the largest 20 food corporations (as ranked by turnover) signatory to obesity-related self-regulatory codes was a wholly-owned Australian company. Thus, these industry groups largely represented the interests and drew on the political power of international capital.</p>
<p>However, it wasn’t all just industry interference. We identified a lack of consensus within the public health community and a failure to “speak with one voice”. Nutrition, physical activity and other relevant standalone policy issues were encompassed into the singular obesity category, bringing together a wider diversity of experts. </p>
<p>But with diversity we discovered disagreement on how to move forward. This was seen to create a lot of extra work for those developing policy.</p>
<p>Similarly, we found public health groups were fragmented for several reasons, including disagreement on the food labelling issue. But most importantly, the receipt of industry funding by some public health groups was seen as a serious conflict of interest by others.</p>
<p>Together this fragmentation limited the influence of the public health community, because politicians are less likely to listen to those in disagreement.</p>
<h2>A contest of ideas</h2>
<p>Obesity has also been very much a contest of ideas, and how they are publicly framed.</p>
<p>For instance, we found the “<a href="http://www.bmj.com/content/315/7106/477.long">obesogenic environment</a>” frame in the late 1990s “politicised” the issue by locating responsibility with a wider set of drivers (for instance, unhealthy food environments) outside an individual’s control. In other words, this way of framing obesity helped to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2879181/">convert it from a private issue into a political one</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169042/original/file-20170511-32624-1sh8afo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169042/original/file-20170511-32624-1sh8afo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169042/original/file-20170511-32624-1sh8afo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169042/original/file-20170511-32624-1sh8afo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169042/original/file-20170511-32624-1sh8afo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169042/original/file-20170511-32624-1sh8afo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169042/original/file-20170511-32624-1sh8afo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169042/original/file-20170511-32624-1sh8afo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Talk about children eating junk food demonised the food industry for its role in childhood obesity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/573669532?src=ny5ccrc9fckmtWnyO1Xt-A-1-5&size=medium_jpg">from shutterstock.com</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Other powerful frames we discovered were a <a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansards%2F2009-06-18%2F0195%22">demon “junk food” industry preying on children</a>, and an economic frame where obesity imposes major costs on health systems and workforce productivity. </p>
<p>Countering these, industry groups and some parliamentarians deployed powerful “slippery slope” arguments portraying industry as vulnerable if regulations were to be adopted.</p>
<p>There were also individual and parental “<a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansardr%2F2004-06-16%2F0059%22;src1=sm1">responsibility</a>” frames intended to deflect blame away from the commercial drivers of obesity, such as the intensive marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages.</p>
<p>And there was the powerful idea of the “<a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansardr%2F2004-06-16%2F0059%22;src1=sm1">nanny state</a>” that portrays regulation as big government imposing itself on citizen’s freedoms.</p>
<h2>Little appetite from within government</h2>
<p>We found regulatory interventions to tackle obesity also had little support from within government. Senior public servants had fostered an institutional culture emphasising individual responsibility and the view that regulatory interventions were dangerous territory.</p>
<p>The establishment of the Australian National Preventive Health Agency in 2011 provided an important new institutional platform for government action. However, it was opposed by both industry and powerful government interests, and was one of the agencies <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/commonwealth-agencies-to-be-cut-by-abbott-government/news-story/aeeccff78818216f9ab5b5a158aef618">abolished by the Abbott government</a> in 2014. </p>
<p>Finally, we found the complexity of the issue to be a problem. This allowed opponents of regulatory interventions to call them “magic cures” and “<a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;adv=yes;orderBy=customrank;page=0;query=cormann%20quebec%20obesity;rec=0;resCount=Default">silver bullets</a>”, essentially vilifying their suitability as interventions.</p>
<p>With politically contested policy issues, the standard of evidence required to achieve policy change is generally higher. We found this was certainly the case for obesity and an argument of “limited evidence” was consistently used to justify government inaction.</p>
<p>Our research did have some limitations. For example, we did not pick up on the government’s “deregulation agenda” as a barrier, although others <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23171416">found this to be important</a>.</p>
<h2>Where to now?</h2>
<p>Acknowledging these barriers to regulation and taking steps to overcome them will be important to any future efforts to prevent obesity.</p>
<p>First, achieving cohesion among public health experts and advocacy groups is paramount. This includes alignment on key policy positions. To what extent this has been achieved since our analysis (dating back to 2011) is unclear. </p>
<p>Second, both sides of politics should acknowledge the power of the transnational food industry to impede progress on Australia’s obesity prevention policies. The <a href="http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/Healthy-Food-Partnership-Home">public-private governance approach</a> currently in use is conflicted and unlikely to resolve the problem.</p>
<p>Third, obesity will again receive high levels of political attention in the future. This will present a moment of opportunity for a prepared and cohesive public health community to move the agenda forward.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72875/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Phillip Baker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>No wonder obesity is a tough public health issue for governments to deal with. Our research has uncovered a range of barriers to tackling it, some more obvious than others.Phillip Baker, Alfred Deakin Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/761752017-04-25T08:58:02Z2017-04-25T08:58:02Z‘Junk food’ and the consumer blame game<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166263/original/file-20170421-12665-q3ugmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Albina Glisic/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>People in the UK are hooked on takeaways and microwave meals, or so we are constantly told by TV chefs and the media. This apparent addiction to fast food is leading to an obesity epidemic.</p>
<p>But what exactly is “junk food”? And why is the consumer always at fault for failing to resist these hyper-palatable foods?</p>
<p>According to a recent <a href="http://www.itv.com/news/2017-03-03/brits-eat-100-million-fast-food-and-takeaway-meals-a-week/">YouGov survey</a>, we eat too much “junk food” and new research by the <a href="https://iea.org.uk/media/no-excuse-for-eating-junk-food-healthy-meals-are-cheaper/">Institute of Economic Affairs</a> (IEA) says we can no longer say we do so because it’s cheaper. But how can we substantiate these claims unless we agree what classifies as junk food?</p>
<p>With companies such as Deliveroo making it possible to order takeaway food from virtually any type of restaurant, consumers asked the question “How many times a week do you have a takeaway?” may inadvertently tell the world they regularly consume junk food. But in fact they may have ordered a takeaway salmon and vegetable dish. And a so-called “ready meal” containing natural ingredients and little added salt, fat or sugar may face the same judgement. </p>
<p>The IEA focused on this area specifically, claiming ready meals are no cheaper than cooking from scratch – and in many cases they’re right. For example, Marks & Spencer’s “Balanced For You” range starts at £4.25 for a meal, which some people may consider expensive for a single portion. However, with an average across the range of less than 400 calories, 10g of fat, 1.5g of salt and 5g of sugar per meal, these ready meals would not fall into most people’s idea of junk food.</p>
<p>If we were to agree that the majority of junk food is laden with fat, sugar and salt and that buying healthy food can be cheaper, why do people fail to buy more fruit and vegetables and why do we have such high rates of obesity? </p>
<h2>‘Bliss point’</h2>
<p>Studies suggest that genetically we have changed very little since our hunter-gatherer ancestors. We are engineered to seek the most energy-packed food. Despite evolution, we have not evolved at the same pace as our economy or industry – nor our diets. <a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2014.05.019">Animal studies</a> have shown that they too favour foods that are high in sugar and fat. The combination of ingredients often referred to as the “bliss point” is hyper-palatable portions of fat, salt and sugar that are irresistible to our taste buds. </p>
<p>Consumption of junk food often comes down to taste and availability and <a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2012.04.017">aggressive marketing</a> exacerbates this. The retail food industry knows that foods high in sugar, fat and salt sell and therefore push such products onto a wide demographic. Advertisements energetically promote these food products. For example, more than 60% of the food and drink adverts <a href="http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/777938/junk-food-adverts-ant-and-dec-saturday-night-takeaway">during Ant and Dec’s</a> Saturday night prime time programme were for so-called junk foods. This did face criticism but it’s a regular occurrence. </p>
<p>Even McDonald’s, which are supposedly trying to demonstrate “responsible eating”, does so by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/may/31/mcdonalds-happy-meal-adverts-dont-help-children-choose-healthy-food">advertising</a> its apple snacks in children’s meals – a not-so-subtle way of promoting fast food to children and their parents. Apple slices, though appealing, do not make the accompanying cheeseburger or chicken nuggets a healthy option.</p>
<p>This isn’t solely restricted to the media. It is noticeable in our daily lives, too. As I walk into my local supermarket, I’m immediately faced with a display of 50p jam donuts and hot cross buns and the smell of freshly baked bread. This instantly sets off the hunger hormone “ghrelin” and makes me want to buy more food as I walk around the aisles. </p>
<p>I counted six aisles with over 100 adverts for high fat and high sugar content products. Likewise, almost every end of aisle display boasted promotional offers on crisps, soft drinks, chocolates and other junk foods. The government advises healthy eating as an easy choice but, as I attempt to bypass the end aisles, I’m bombarded with a wave of promotional signs. In contrast, there are rarely large discounts offered on fruit and vegetables, despite the latest news <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/23/five-a-day-fruit-veg-must-double-10-major-study-finds/">headline recommendation</a> to eat ten, rather than five, portions a day. </p>
<h2>Advertising and digital media</h2>
<p>One <a href="http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2009.179267">global study</a> showed that the most advertised types of food and drink were fast food, sugary cereals and snacks including chocolate and crisps. Therefore, it seems unfair to blame buying habits entirely on the consumer when the majority of these adverts are for unhealthy foods, which we are preconditioned to crave. Digital media also offers another platform for the junk food industry to sink their teeth into. McDonald’s has more than <a href="https://www.facebook.com/McDonaldsUK/?brand_redir=10150097174480584">70m followers</a> on Facebook and KFC <a href="https://www.facebook.com/KFC.uk/?brand_redir=103737039656866">has over 45m</a>. The industry is well aware that peer influence can have lasting effects, especially among adolescents. </p>
<p>For me, the government is not doing enough to prohibit this kind of publicity in the media and in stores. Theresa May has been <a href="http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/777938/junk-food-adverts-ant-and-dec-saturday-night-takeaway%5d">criticised</a> for her stance on junk food advertising and blamed for abandoning plans to tackle childhood obesity. </p>
<p>The sugar tax may have some effect as a small number of companies have indicated they will reformulate their products. But is the tax likely to influence consumer choice if it is not coupled with nutritional advice? And where can we get this advice? Our GPs are not trained to explain what constitutes junk food and we have seen NHS funding <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/oct/17/nhs-cuts-impact-on-patients-revealed">cuts for child obesity</a> programmes and dietitians. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"855251215529148416"}"></div></p>
<p>My <a href="https://ljmu.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/eating-habits-survey">research</a> aims to answer some of these dilemmas. I want to discover whether we are actually eating as much junk food as is being suggested. To do this I want to devise a method to help determine people’s food intake from urine samples which can assess an individual’s nutritional status. If we can answer these questions then we can begin to understand and improve our eating habits and help people with long-term dietary problems.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76175/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hayley Janssen is affiliated with the Association for Nutrition and has a research collaboration with Aberystwyth University. </span></em></p>Junk food versus healthy food – why are we always blaming consumers for ‘bad’ food choices?Hayley Janssen, PhD candidate, Liverpool John Moores UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/631782016-08-18T02:54:21Z2016-08-18T02:54:21ZHow companies learn what children secretly want<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134501/original/image-20160817-3578-n5lxb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Companies use children's data to sell them junk food and other products.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-367390880/stock-photo-chocolate-chip-cookies-in-the-hands-of-a-child.html?src=lJAx4QMYQvOUq8qoi2GsyQ-1-73">Cookie image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you have children, you are likely to worry about their safety – you show them safe places in your neighborhood and you teach them to watch out for lurking dangers. </p>
<p>But you may not be aware of some online dangers to which they are exposed through their schools. </p>
<p>There is a good chance that people and organizations you don’t know are collecting information about them while they are doing their schoolwork. And they may be using this information for purposes that <a href="https://www.academia.edu/24593242/Corporate_Schooling_Meets_Corporate_Media_Standards_Testing_and_Technophilia">you know nothing about</a>.</p>
<p>In the U.S. and around the world, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr7Z7ysDluQ">millions of digital data points are collected</a> daily from children by private companies that provide educational technologies to teachers and schools. Once data are collected, there is little in law or policy that prevents companies from <a href="https://www.eff.org/press/releases/google-deceptively-tracks-students-internet-browsing-eff-says-complaint-federal-trade">using the information</a> for almost any purpose they wish. </p>
<p><a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781475813616/Sold-Out-How-Marketing-in-School-Threatens-Childrens-Well-Being-and-Undermines-their-Education">Our research</a> explores how corporate entities use their involvement with schools to gather and use data about students. We find that often these companies use the data they collect to market products, such as junk food, to children.</p>
<h2>Here’s how student data are being collected</h2>
<p>Almost all U.S. middle and high school <a href="https://thejournal.com/articles/2014/04/08/a-third-of-secondary-students-use-school-issued-mobile-devices.aspx">students use mobile devices</a>. A third of such devices are issued by their schools. Even when using <a href="http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/06/11/districts-turn-byod-disorder-to-their-advantage.html">their own devices</a> for their schoolwork, students are being encouraged to use <a href="https://boostelearning.com/blog/google-apps-for-education-anticipated-to-reach-110-million-users-by-2020/">applications and software</a>, such as those with which they can create multimedia <a href="https://www.glogster.com/#love">presentations</a>, do <a href="https://compasslearning.com/goquest/">research</a>, learn to <a href="https://www.nitrotype.com/">type</a> or <a href="https://www.schoology.com/">communicate</a> with each other and with their teachers. </p>
<p>When children work on their assignments, unknown to them, the software and sites they use are busy collecting data. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134503/original/image-20160817-3602-1a7pzmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134503/original/image-20160817-3602-1a7pzmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134503/original/image-20160817-3602-1a7pzmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134503/original/image-20160817-3602-1a7pzmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134503/original/image-20160817-3602-1a7pzmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134503/original/image-20160817-3602-1a7pzmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134503/original/image-20160817-3602-1a7pzmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Ads target children as they do their homework.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-15854176/stock-photo-young-girl-with-laptop-doing-homework-in-dining-room.html?src=ktP0S4PfpU2i58Nw8GOZlQ-1-7">Girl image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, <a href="https://www.knewton.com/resources/press/67525/">“Adaptive learning”</a> technologies record students’ keystrokes, answers and response times. On-line <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OZyzYUog8w">surveys</a> collect information about students’ personalities. <a href="https://www.remind.com/">Communication</a> software stores the communications between students, parents and teachers; and <a href="https://www.glogster.com/#love">presentation</a> software stores students’ work and their communications about it. </p>
<p>In addition, teachers and schools may direct children to work on branded apps or <a href="http://www.studystack.com/Privacy">websites</a> that may collect, or allow <a href="http://adage.com/article/digital/google-dominates-ad-tech/244824/">third parties</a> to collect, IP addresses and other information from students. This could include the ads children click on, what they download, what games they play, and so on.</p>
<h2>How student data are used</h2>
<p>When “screen time” is <a href="https://www.eff.org/studentprivacy-casestudy">required for school</a>, parents cannot limit or control it. Companies use this time to find out more about children’s preferences, so they they can target children <a href="http://adage.com/article/catapult/path-changing-complex-journey-conversion/304598/">with advertising</a> and other content with a personalized appeal. </p>
<p>Children might see ads while they are working in educational apps. In other cases, <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/12/googles-student-tracking-isnt-limited-chrome-sync?from=student-privacy">data might be collected</a> while students complete their assignments. Information might also be stored and used to better target them later.</p>
<p>For instance, a <a href="http://www.studystack.com/Privacy">website</a> might allow a third party to collect information, including the type of browser used, the time and date, and the subject of advertisements clicked or scrolled over by a child. The third party could then use that information to target the child with advertisements later.</p>
<p>We have <a href="http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/schoolhouse-commercialism-2015">found</a> that companies use the data to serve ads (for food, clothing, games, etc.) to the children via their computers. This repeated, personalized advertising is <a href="https://www.democraticmedia.org/article/how-youtube-big-data-and-big-brands-mean-trouble-kids-and-parents">designed</a> specifically to manipulate children to want and buy more things.</p>
<p>Indeed, over time this kind of advertising can threaten children’s <a href="http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/schoolhouse-commercialism-2012">physical</a> and <a href="http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/Schoolhouse-commercialism-2010">psychological</a> well-being. </p>
<h2>Consequences of targeted advertising</h2>
<p><a href="http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/national-survey-types-and-extent-marketing-foods-minimal-nutritional-value-schools">Food</a> is the most heavily advertised class of products to children. The heavy digital promotion of “junk” food is associated with negative health outcomes such as <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/facts.htm">obesity</a>, <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(07)60958-1.pdf">heart disease and diabetes</a>. </p>
<p>Additionally, advertising, regardless of the particular product it may sell, also “sells” to children the idea that products can make them happy. </p>
<p>Research shows that <a href="https://www.scribd.com/book/235411618/Born-to-Buy-The-Commercialized-Child-and-the-New-Consumer-Cult">children</a> who buy into this materialist worldview are more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression and other psychological distress.</p>
<p><a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_High_Price_of_Materialism.html?id=2ekg225NTSwC">Teenagers</a> who adopt this worldview are more likely to smoke, drink and skip school. One set of <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10478400701389045">studies</a> showed that advertising makes children feel far from their ideals for themselves in terms of how good a life they lead and what their bodies look like. </p>
<p>The insecurity and dissatisfaction may lead to negative behaviors such as <a href="http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/13276/">compulsive buying</a> and <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sjop.12101/abstract">disordered eating</a>. </p>
<h2>Aren’t there laws to protect children’s privacy?</h2>
<p>Many <a href="http://dataqualitycampaign.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DQC-Student-Data-Laws-2015-Sept23.pdf">bills bearing on student privacy</a> have been introduced in the past several years in <a href="http://www.nasbe.org/wp-content/uploads/2015-Federal-Education-Data-Privacy-Bills-Comparison-2015.07.22-Public.pdf">Congress</a> and <a href="http://www.nasbe.org/wp-content/uploads/Vance_2016-State-Final.pdf">state legislatures</a>. Several of them have been enacted into <a href="http://www.nasbe.org/wp-content/uploads/Vance_2016-State-Final.pdf">laws</a>. </p>
<p>Additionally, nearly 300 software companies signed a self-regulatory <a href="https://fpf.org/2014/10/07/k-12-student-privacy-pledge-announced/">Student Privacy Pledge</a> to safeguard student privacy regarding the collection, maintenance and use of student personal information.</p>
<p>However, they <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/privacy-bill-wouldnt-stop-data-mining-of-kids-116299">aren’t sufficient</a>. And here’s why:</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134504/original/image-20160817-3602-5zi0zr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134504/original/image-20160817-3602-5zi0zr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134504/original/image-20160817-3602-5zi0zr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134504/original/image-20160817-3602-5zi0zr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134504/original/image-20160817-3602-5zi0zr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134504/original/image-20160817-3602-5zi0zr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134504/original/image-20160817-3602-5zi0zr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Student privacy laws are not adequate.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mimiw/1878700854/in/photolist-3S1Qj3-b8pivH-drsB7q-drsCcj-43YUBS-43UPNB-drsBxq-bx1jyp-bxpEou-9wp4KP-9jxJ6-dpT5sR-dn7w9M-5uGeWu-fryyBY-cSMfs1-b86bEk-cSMaNU-4zocnd-dJepGk-cz2KeE-dFxHmE-cSM96h-8wcRf8-6D47K-5TMsxx-2iV4D-8PCwt2-fvT5PN-bTkms-761HEK-5R4tTJ-4nWCrn-6N9kQU-dzbjuX-aYLK5P-cXg9D3-9pSwyB-eXBR7x-7agqDg-7yw12s-4Xtgen-7beJ1K-8dfWHj-dm3RNm-aYLK6D-7yw1sh-7yw1F3-cEJgcq-7yscJR">Mary Woodard</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>First of all, most laws, including the <a href="https://studentprivacypledge.org/">Student Privacy Pledge</a>, focus on <a href="http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/104256">Personally Identifiable Information</a> (PII). PII includes information that can be used to determine a person’s identity, such as that person’s name, social security number or biometric information. </p>
<p>Companies can address privacy concerns by making digital data <a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2009/09/your-secrets-live-online-in-databases-of-ruin/">anonymous</a> (i.e., not including PII in the data that are collected, stored or shared). However, data can easily be <a href="https://www.cs.utexas.edu/%7Eshmat/shmat_oak08netflix.pdf">“de-anonymized.”</a> And, children don’t need to be <a href="http://adage.com/article/ken-wheaton/data-anonymized-find/297713/">identified with PII</a> in order for their online behavior to be tracked. </p>
<p>Second, <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/s1788/text">bills designed to protect student privacy</a> sometimes expressly <a href="http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2016/Bills/A1500/1272_I1.HTM">preserve</a> the ability of an operator to use student information for adaptive or personalized learning purposes. In order to personalize the assignments that a program gives a student, it must by necessity track that student’s behavior. </p>
<p>This weakens the privacy protections the bills otherwise offer. Although it protects companies that collect data for adaptive learning purposes only, it also provides a loophole that enables data collection. </p>
<p>Finally, the <a href="https://studentprivacypledge.org/">Student Privacy Pledge</a> has <a href="http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/schoolhouse-commercialism-2015">no real enforcement mechanism</a>. As it is a voluntary pledge, many companies may scrupulously abide by the promises in the pledge, but many <a href="https://www.eff.org/press/releases/google-deceptively-tracks-students-internet-browsing-eff-says-complaint-federal-trade">others may not</a>. </p>
<h2>What to do?</h2>
<p>While education technologies show promise in some areas, they also hold the <a href="https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-03-16-the-overselling-of-education-technology">potential to harm students profoundly</a> if they are not properly understood, thoughtfully managed and carefully controlled. </p>
<p>Parents, teachers and administrators, who serve as the closest protectors of children’s privacy at their schools, and legislators responsible for enacting relevant policy, need to recognize the threats of such data tracking. </p>
<p>The first step toward protecting children is to know that that such targeted marketing is going on while children do their schoolwork. And that it is powerful.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63178/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span> I have received funding to support my commercialism in schools research from Consumer's Union and from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Faith Boninger does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When children work on their school assignments, unknown to them, the software they use is busy collecting data. These data are then used for individualized marketing of junk foods and other products.Faith Boninger, Research Associate in Education Policy, University of Colorado BoulderAlex Molnar, Research Professor, University of Colorado BoulderLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.