Durhamregion.com | News | Photos | Videos | 411 | Community Notices | Dating | Events | Flyers | Marketplace | Menus | Movies | Features

Helping our children to be wise consumers

March 20, 2008 - 09:43

Kids are influenced by what they see on television.

Overweight kids and childhood obesity are on the rise. So when kids see commercials promoting healthy, active lifestyles do you think they might pay attention? Canadian advertisers are counting on it and are doing their part to tackle the problem.

Recent developments in Canadian advertising rules and regulations will make it easier for companies to understand what they can advertise to kids and how, beefing up an already stringent system for protecting kids from inappropriate advertising.

Both the Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children and the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards now include new interpretive guidelines to help ensure advertising to children encourages responsible product use and that the amount of food shown or shown being consumed does not exceed an appropriate single serving size.

As part of the new Canadian Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, 15 leading Canadian food and beverage companies have announced they will devote at least 50 per cent of the ads that are directed to children under 12 toward the promotion of physical activity and of foods that are low in total calories, fats, salt and added sugars and higher in nutrients that contribute to good health.

By the time kids see these ads they will have gone through a rigorous pre-clearance system to ensure the messaging is suitable for impressionable young kids.

Teaching kids to be media-wise is important and helps them understand why ads exist in the first place, how they are made and what is real or not real.

More information is available on this topic at www.adstandards.com or www.cca-kids.ca.

Add to your favorites Add to favourite Recommend : 0   Recommend

Latest News

Dead Pickering bird ends West Nile season
Gas leak evacuates 10 Pickering homes
Relief for westbound commuters on Hwy. 401
Top Prospects Game likely coming to Oshawa
GM sales plummet in August
Mutton auditor charged by professional body
Repatriation ceremony on Saturday evening
Teen beaten, robbed at house party
Westbound 401 collectors at DVP remain closed for evening commute
Longtime Ajax teacher dies
To view this content, JavaScript must be enabled, and you need the latest version of the Macromedia Flash Player. Click here to get the free Macromedia Flash Player now!

Blogs


Neil Crone - Enter Laughing
Altogether now...HOPE.
Scene and Heard with Will McGuirk
SHWALTZ
Scene and Heard with Will McGuirk
Bryden Baird's HNIC theme
Scene and Heard with Will McGuirk
Neil Young Tribute Sep 11