Annotated Bibliography

Story, Mary, and Simone French. "Food Advertising and Marketing Directed at Children
and Adolescents in the US." 10 Feb. 2004. Pub Med Central. 10 Aug. 2009 . In recent years, the food and beverage industry in the US has viewed children and adolescents as a major market force. As a result, children and adolescents are now the target of intense and specialized food marketing and advertising efforts. Food marketers are interested in youth as consumers because of their spending power, their purchasing influence, and as future adult consumers. Multiple techniques and channels are used to reach youth, beginning when they are toddlers, to foster brand-building and influence food product purchase behavior.

Rouse, James . "Fast Food Advertising To Children." 6 Nov. 2008. 10 Aug. 2009
. Marketing gurus know all the tricks on how to get fast food advertising to children. The lure of toys, game pieces and pester power nets fast food advertisers results.

Horgen, Katherine Battle. "Big Food, Big Money, Big Children." Childhood lost: How
American culture is failing our kids. 123-135. Westport, CT US: Praeger Publishers/Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005. PsycINFO. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 10 Aug. 2009 . Advertisers employ a variety of highly effective techniques to sell products to children, capitalizing on their developmental vulnerabilities. While grassroots efforts have had a local impact, the government must take more responsibility to combat the obesity epidemic among this nation's children. The author recommends the regulation of advertising directed at children, the banning of advertising in schools, the removal of vending machines and fast food franchises from schools, parents becoming advocates for their children, making exercise a priority in schools, and promoting medial literacy in schools.

Page, Randy M., and Aaron Brewster. "Emotional and rational product appeals in
Televised food advertisements for children: Analysis of commercials shown on US broadcast networks." Journal of Child Health Care 11 (2007): 323-40. 10 Aug. 2009 . The aggressive advertising and marketing of high caloric food products to children is implicated as a potential causative factor in the childhood obesity epidemic. This study analyzed 147 commercials appearing during children's programming on U.S. broadcast networks for a wide range of potential emotional and rational advertising appeals. The most prominent emotional appeals were fun/happiness and play followed by fantasy/imagination, social enhancement/peer acceptance, and coolness/hipness.

RABIN, RONI CARYN. "TV Ads Contribute to Childhood Obesity, Economists Say."
New York Times (21 Nov. 2008): 1. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 10 Aug. 2009 . Banning fast food advertisements from children's television programs would reduce the number of overweight children in the U.S. by 18 percent and decrease the number of overweight teens by 14 percent, economists have estimated in a new study. The researchers used several statistical models to link obesity rates to the amount of time spent viewing fast food advertising, finding that viewing more fast food commercials on television raises the risk of obesity in children.

Connor, Susan M. "Food-Related Advertising on Preschool Television: Building Brand
Recognition in Young Viewers ." PEDIATRICS 118.4 (2006): 1478-85. Health Source- Consumer Request. USI. 10 Aug. 2009 . This study used content analysis to explore how much and what type of advertising is present in television programming aimed at toddlers and preschool-aged children and what methods of persuasion are being used to sell products and to promote brands to the youngest viewers.

"How Food Ads Might Affect Children's Taste Preferences.." Child Health Alert 25 (Sep.
2007): 2-3. Health Source - Consumer Edition. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 10 Aug. 2009 . The article discusses research being done on the impact of fast food marketing on the taste preferences of children. It references a study by T. N. Robinson, published in the August 2007 issue of "Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine." Researchers conducted an unusual experiment involving 63 preschoolers, ages 3-5 years, from low-income families. This study shows, in a dramatic way, just how powerful the effects of advertising and branding can be on children.

"What Kids Are Watching: Food Ads On TV.." Child Health Alert 23 (Oct. 2005): 5-5.
Health Source - Consumer Edition. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 10 Aug. 2009 . This article examines the kinds of food advertised during TV programs that are heavily watched by children. Researchers first identified programs rated as most popular among 6-11 year olds. Among the 1424 ads that appeared, 30% were for food products. The researchers then reviewed the ads for their content. Not surprisingly, the authors report that candy, sweets, soft drinks, and convenience/fast foods were advertised most frequently, followed distantly by breads and cereals. There was little focus on fruits and vegetables, dairy foods, meats, poultry, and fish. Snack time eating was shown more often than breakfast, lunch, or dinner combined. They conclude that foods advertised to children would exceed limits for sugar and sodium and fail to provide adequate fiber, vitamin A, calcium, and iron.