Knowledge needs and the ‘savvy’ child: teenager perspectives on banning food marketing to children

Abstract

Food marketing to children is a powerful factor in the health of young people. In Canada, one proposed measure to protect young people is to ban all food and beverage marketing to children under age 13. Since policy initiatives should consider the voices of those directly impacted, we conducted focus groups with teenagers aged 12–14–precisely those individuals who would be directly impacted by, or just over, the age threshold proposed. The majority of teenagers consulted were opposed to a ban on food marketing, framing food marketing as a way to meet their consumer needs. Such perspectives mirror the arguments made by the food industry, and suggest that teenagers’ self-identification as consumers trump questions of ethics or public health. Even though teenagers argue that marketing is often misleading, they do not view regulation as a solution–a view troubled by the fact that many of the teenagers underestimated their own vulnerability to marketing. The research points to the need for a more complex understanding of how food marketing messages are understood by teenagers, for a more robust media literacy education, and for the need to engage–not ignore–young people when it comes to issues of public health.