Global Action, US Inaction
While the U.S. relies largely on industry self-regulation, Norway, the United Kingdom, and several other nations have enacted sweeping laws to curb junk food marketing to kids.
1980: Banned all commercial advertising directed at children under 13 across print and broadcast media.
1991: Beginning in 1991, Sweden banned all television ads aimed at children under the age of 12.
1992: Banned television advertising directed at children under 12.
2025: In 2025, Norway went further than most countries—banning the marketing of unhealthy food and drinks to anyone under 18 across all media. The law prohibits not just ads, but competitions, product samples, child-appealing packaging, and promotions like discounts, games, and giveaways.
2007–2009: Restricted unhealthy (HFSS) food advertising during children’s TV programming using nutrient profiling.
2017: Extended restrictions beyond television to include digital and online advertising.
2026: The United Kingdom stands apart for its sweeping approach to digital media—banning all online marketing of unhealthy foods, including paid social media posts, alongside restrictions on TV advertising before 9 PM.
2009: Introduced restrictions on unhealthy food marketing to children.
2013: Expanded rules, including limits on persuasive techniques (e.g., cartoons, celebrities).
2020: Strengthened protections across multiple media channels.
2019: Portugal introduced one of the EU’s most comprehensive advertising laws for children, restricting the marketing of unhealthy foods across TV, radio, print, and digital media. The policy also limits advertising in schools and within 100 meters of their grounds.
2019: Introduced broadcast-focused restrictions and guidance on responsible marketing to children, with a more limited scope than other EU countries.
2018: Introduced restrictions on advertising unhealthy foods to children, including limits on persuasive techniques like cartoons, licensed characters, and promotional incentives.
2016: Viewed as a regulatory turning point, Chile introduced a sweeping, multi-part effort to improve children’s diets. Foods high in sugar, salt, fat, or calories must carry warning labels; their marketing to children is restricted across media and packaging; and they cannot be sold in schools.
2018: Strengthened the policy by further limiting child-directed marketing and promotional techniques.
2016: Introduced warning labels and restrictions on marketing unhealthy foods to children, including limits on child-directed advertising techniques.
2016: Introduced initial marketing restrictions and labeling efforts.
2021: Implemented one of the strongest laws globally—combining warning labels with strict bans on child-directed marketing tactics like cartoons, celebrities, and other child-appealing techniques on unhealthy foods.
2021: Colombia adopted a comprehensive food policy that combines front-of-package warning labels with restrictions on marketing unhealthy foods to children, including limits on advertising and the use of child-appealing techniques.
2014: Brazil classifies advertising to children as “abusive” under its Consumer Protection Code and Conanda Resolution No. 163, effectively restricting child-targeted food marketing. The law prohibits techniques like cartoons, celebrities, and child influencers, though enforcement has been uneven.
2013: Restricted junk food advertising during children’s TV programming.
2020: Since 2020, Mexico has paired front-of-package warning labels with targeted marketing limits: foods high in sugar, salt, and fat cannot use cartoon characters or child-directed branding, and their advertising is restricted during children’s programming. In Oaxaca, protections go further, restricting sales of these products to minors.
2008: Restricted advertising of unhealthy foods during peak child viewing hours and banned their sale and promotion in schools.
2011: Restricted advertising of unhealthy foods to children under 12, including limits on timing and marketing techniques.
1980: Banned all commercial advertising directed at children under 13 across print and broadcast media.
1991: Beginning in 1991, Sweden banned all television ads aimed at children under the age of 12.
1992: Banned television advertising directed at children under 12.
2025: In 2025, Norway went further than most countries—banning the marketing of unhealthy food and drinks to anyone under 18 across all media. The law prohibits not just ads, but competitions, product samples, child-appealing packaging, and promotions like discounts, games, and giveaways.
2007–2009: Restricted unhealthy (HFSS) food advertising during children’s TV programming using nutrient profiling.
2017: Extended restrictions beyond television to include digital and online advertising.
2026: The United Kingdom stands apart for its sweeping approach to digital media—banning all online marketing of unhealthy foods, including paid social media posts, alongside restrictions on TV advertising before 9 PM.
2009: Introduced restrictions on unhealthy food marketing to children.
2013: Expanded rules, including limits on persuasive techniques (e.g., cartoons, celebrities).
2020: Strengthened protections across multiple media channels.
2019: Portugal introduced one of the EU’s most comprehensive advertising laws for children, restricting the marketing of unhealthy foods across TV, radio, print, and digital media. The policy also limits advertising in schools and within 100 meters of their grounds.
2019: Introduced broadcast-focused restrictions and guidance on responsible marketing to children, with more limited scope than other EU countries.
2018: Introduced restrictions on advertising unhealthy foods to children, including limits on persuasive techniques like cartoons, licensed characters, and promotional incentives
2016: Viewed as a regulatory turning point, Chile introduced a sweeping, multi-part effort to improve children’s diets. Foods high in sugar, salt, fat, or calories must carry warning labels; their marketing to children is restricted across media and packaging; and they cannot be sold in schools.
2018: Strengthened the policy by further limiting child-directed marketing and promotional techniques.
2016: Introduced warning labels and restrictions on marketing unhealthy foods to children, including limits on child-directed advertising techniques
2016: Introduced initial marketing restrictions and labeling efforts.
2021: Implemented one of the strongest laws globally—combining warning labels with strict bans on child-directed marketing tactics like cartoons, celebrities, and other child-appealing techniques on unhealthy foods.
2021: Colombia adopted a comprehensive food policy that combines front-of-package warning labels with restrictions on marketing unhealthy foods to children, including limits on advertising and the use of child-appealing techniques.
2014: Brazil classifies advertising to children as “abusive” under its Consumer Protection Code and Conanda Resolution No. 163, effectively restricting child-targeted food marketing. The law prohibits techniques like cartoons, celebrities, and child influencers, though enforcement has been uneven.
2013: Restricted junk food advertising during children’s TV programming.
2020: Since 2020, Mexico has paired front-of-package warning labels with targeted marketing limits: foods high in sugar, salt, and fat cannot use cartoon characters or child-directed branding, and their advertising is restricted during children’s programming. In Oaxaca, protections go further, restricting sales of these products to minors.
2008: Restricted advertising of unhealthy foods during peak child viewing hours and banned their sale and promotion in schools.
2011: Restricted advertising of unhealthy foods to children under 12, including limits on timing and marketing techniques.
Alejandro Calvillo of El Poder del Consumidor, a leading consumer group in Mexico City, discusses Mexico’s efforts to protect children from harmful food and beverage marketing—from warning labels to advertising restrictions—and the challenges of countering industry influence.
Agenda for American Action
In the United States, food marketing is governed by voluntary industry self-regulation rather than enforceable law. As a result, children remain widely exposed to sophisticated, data-driven marketing across television, digital media, and everyday environments. A problem unique to the US is the First Amendment, which allows for almost unlimited “corporate speech.” We urge consideration of such measures as the following to protect children from marketing that undermines their health.
Michael F. Jacobson, Founder of the National Food Museum, provides an overview of food marketing aimed at kids (or their parents) and some recommendations for policymakers and parents.
Five Recommendations to Protect Children
Because very young children are still forming dietary habits and cannot understand the intent of marketing, all marketing directed at children under age seven or eight should be banned (as the FTC proposed in 1978). Restrictions should apply during hours when children are likely to be watching (e.g., 6 a.m.–9 p.m.) and to programs and channels with large young audiences. Because the internet operates around the clock, online advertising likely to reach young children should also be prohibited.
Prohibit advertising and other marketing of foods high in sugar, salt, and saturated fat to older children across all media. These children are prime consumers of sugary drinks, fast food, and snack foods, and are experiencing rising rates of obesity. Restrictions should also disallow the use of celebrities, cartoon characters, popular music, and other persuasive techniques on packaging and in advertising for unhealthy foods. “Media” should include content creators and social media influencers, computer games, and product placement.
Ads for unhealthy foods should be required to include prominent disclosures about potential health risks and/or be balanced by counter-ads: public service announcements that discourage consumption, funded by the advertisers themselves (as proposed by the FTC), nonprofit organizations, hospitals, or the federal government.
Prohibit the use of personal data, behavioral tracking, and algorithmic systems to target minors with advertising for unhealthy foods and beverages.
Prohibit the marketing of foods and beverages high in added sugars, sodium, or saturated fats to children under 18, using clear, mandatory nutrition criteria to define eligibility. Modeled on Chile’s Food Labeling and Advertising Law, this policy draws a hard line—if a product is unhealthy, it should not be marketed to kids.
US Activities on Marketing Food to Kids
1970s and 1980s
1974: FCC adopts children’s advertising guidelines
The Federal Communications Commission urges the industry to limit ad time during children’s programming and not employ “host-selling” (characters promoting products during shows).
1977: ACT and CSPI Petition the FTC for Ad Limits on Children’s Television
Action for Children’s Television and the Center for Science in the Public Interest petition the Federal Trade Commission to restrict TV advertising of sugary foods to children, while requiring sugar disclosures and health warnings.
1978: FTC Proposes “KidVid” Regulations
Federal Trade Commission proposes sweeping limits or bans on ads to young children.
1978 to Present: Industry backlash (“National Nanny”)
Industry groups and media outlets, including The Washington Post, frame the FTC’s efforts as government overreach, ultimately killing the proposal.
1980 to Present: FTC Improvements Act
Congress passes a law limiting the FTC’s authority to restrict unfair marketing to children; that limit has been renewed every year since.
1990 and 2000s
1990: Children’s Television Act (CTA)
Federal law set legal limits on advertising time (12 minutes per hour on weekdays and 10.5 minutes on weekends) during children’s programming and requires educational programming, but does not address the nutritional quality of advertised foods.
2005: FTC/HHS Workshop on Marketing, Self-Regulation, and Childhood Obesity
Federal agencies revisit the issue of advertising in light of rising childhood obesity, but stop short of recommending regulatory action.
2006: Institute of Medicine (the National Academies) Report: “Food Marketing to Children and Youth”
The report finds strong evidence that food marketing undermines children’s health; calls for reforms and warns that regulation may be needed.
2006: AHA & Clinton Foundation Agreement with Beverage Industry
The American Heart Association and Clinton Foundation reach a voluntary, but largely effective, agreement with the soft drink industry (under pressure from a threatened CSPI lawsuit) to limit beverage sales in schools.
2007: CSPI Settlement with Kellogg
CSPI reached a legal settlement with Kellogg Company to adopt stronger nutrition standards for foods marketed to children. In the absence of federal action, litigation becomes a prime tool for protecting children from unfair and deceptive marketing.
2008: FTC Report to Congress: “Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents”
Report finds that advertisers spend $1.6 billion annually on youth-targeted food marketing, mostly for unhealthy products; FTC calls for stronger standards.
2010 to present
2010: “Let’s Move!” Campaign (First Lady Michelle Obama)
National initiative to reduce childhood obesity, including calls for industry to voluntarily improve food environments and marketing practices. Obama’s initiative leads to passage of the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-free Kids Act that requires healthier school meals and snacks and limits marketing of unhealthy foods in schools. That law led to the 2014 “Smart Snacks in School” nutrition standards for foods served, sold, and advertised in schools….and to the 2016 “Local School Wellness Policy Final Rule” that prohibits advertising for foods that did not meet the standards.
2011: Interagency Working Group (IWG) Proposes Nutrition Criteria for Food Marketed to Kids
Interagency Working Group (IWG) Proposes Nutrition Criteria for Foods Marketed to Kids
2012: Walt Disney Company Reforms Its Advertising Policy
Disney becomes the first major media company to restrict advertising of foods that do not meet its nutrition standards across its children’s networks. This is a rare example of meaningful self-regulation coming from the private sector rather than federal regulation. Despite this step, Disney still allows the licensing and use of its characters on junk-food packages.
2013: Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI)
Ten major food manufacturers, organized by a unit of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, adopt the first major, voluntary nutrition criteria for foods marketed to children.
Mid–2010s to Present: Explosion of Digital & Algorithm-Driven Food Marketing
Food marketing to children shifts largely from TV to social media, gaming, and influencer- and data-driven platforms with limited transparency and oversight. The US continues to rely on a largely voluntary and impotent system for protecting children from unfair marketing for unhealthy foods.
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