Lisa Te Morenga: researcher on the barrage of junk food ads targeted at children

Researchers say junk food advertising needs tighter controls. 

A paper has found children aged 2 to 17 see twice as many ads for unhealthy food than healthier options. 

The authors want limits on online ads for unhealthy food - and a ban on using cartoon characters in packaging. 

Co-author Lisa Te Morenga says such advertising intensifies the desire children already feel for junk food - and the constant barrage of ads makes children want it more.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Heller Duper see Alas eighteen past five. Now listen, we're
going to come back to the business with Nikola whill Is. First, though,
we got to deal with junk food advertising. So university
research is are calling for rules restricting how much junk
food advertising kids can see because what they've found is
that kids see twice as many ads for unhealthy food
as they do for healthy food. Lisa's Immorning It is
one of the co authors of the reviewing with us. Now, hey,

(00:21):
leg Sir Kilder, do we actually think that the advertising
leads to poor decisions from kids? Or do kids just
make poor decisions because the kids and they're going to
buy junk food because they're kids.

Speaker 2 (00:35):
I think both are true. But you know, the best
evidence for how effective junk food advertising is is how
much money junk food companies spend on advertising. It's clearly effective.
And we do know that from all sorts of research
that the more kids see adverts for unhealthy food, the
more likely it is that they go on to consume them.

(00:56):
How do and that's when we compare different types of kids.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
But how do we know that? I mean to that
kids just buy junk food because the kids, right you get,
you give kids. I don't know, give a kid ten bucks,
So go and buy whatever you want. They're not going
to come back with a salad and a water, are they.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
No, they're not. But you know, we would have bought
lollies and things when we were kids and we had
the autonomy to do it. I think today, though, there
are just so many ads out there and so many
options for kids that, you know, it's really hard to
not want to spend that money on food, Like, kids

(01:31):
don't always need a snack, you know, there are other
things that you could spend your money on, Yeah, aren't
there if you wanted, like toys and things like that.
But we know that the more they see junk food advertising,
the more likelyads that they're going to spend it on
unhealthy food, right, Okay, and it makes them want it more, right?

Speaker 1 (01:46):
So is the solution though? Actually, I just wonder if
we're targeting the right thing here, would the smartest thing
not be to target the parents because it's actually what
parentcy that really is. It leads to the outcomes for kids, right.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
Uh?

Speaker 1 (02:00):
I mean example, my three year old is not going
to have KFC because he sees a KFC ad he's
going to have ks because I see a cafc ad.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
Yes, that's true. But at some point, you know, as parents,
you will want to do this. You want to encourage
your child to develop their own independence. So we do
start loosening the apron string. So you know, three year old,
it's what they're eating, is what the parents are giving them.
By the time they're ten, they're walking to a primary school.

(02:30):
You know, we want our kids to have the confidence
to go into shops and buy things. So it's you know, we.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
Do you think if that ten years old walking to
the past the supermarket, they're going to go in and
buy a nice, healthy snack.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
My kids walk to intermediate school at ten. No, I
don't think they're going to But you know that that pressure,
that constant saturation and you're hid in your mind of
the fact that there are delicious things out there does
encourage us to buy them. Yeah, that does work to
make us want them more.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
I take your point. They don't need to spend money
on junk food. They could spend it on toys, but
they spend it on junk food and said Lisa, thanks
very much, appreciate Lisa. It's the morning at Who's Massy
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