TABLE 2—

Statutory Restrictions and Government Guidelines on Food Advertising to Young People, by Status: Worldwide, 2004–2006

Country	Code/Law/Proposal (Date)a,b	Distinct Characteristics	Notes on Development and Implementation
Implemented
Finland	Consumer Ombudsmen Guidelines on Children and Foodstuffs Marketing(October 2005)36	Warn marketers to be cautious when packaging free gifts with food products Recommend that collector promotions and sweepstakes are not used to market foods to children	Though not legally binding, guidelines are used by the statutory authorities to guide their interpretation of the Consumer Protection Act and therefore have some legal standing
France	New legislation in Public Health Code— article 29 (2004, implemented February 2007)37	Requires advertising in all media (targeted at children andadults) for processed foods, and foods or drinks that contain added fats, sweeteners and salt, to be accompanied by a nutritional message Alternatively the advertiser must pay a tax (1.5% of the annual expenditure on that advertisement) to fund nutritional campaigns	Original legal proposal would have prohibited advertising of energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods, but following much debate, amendments led to a less stringent measure
Ireland	Children’s Advertising Code of the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (implemented January 2005)38	Six provisions on diet and nutrition Includes prohibition on the use of celebrities or sports stars to promote food or drink products	Monitoring during first year of operation identified 1 breach of diet and nutrition provisions in 270 hours of programming39 Prohibition on use of celebrities strongly opposed by industry during code development
United Kingdom	New statutory regulations released by the communications regulator, Ofcom (implemented April 2007)42	Advertising of food high in fat, sugar, and salt (as definedby a nutrient profiling model) banned during television programs that have particular appeal to children younger than 16 years old, i.e., preschool children’s programs, programs in children’s airtime on commercial and public service broadcast channels and all cable and satellite channels, and youth-oriented programming that attracts a significantly higher-than-average proportion of viewers younger than 16 years old	Followed consultation on series of options to limit foodtelevision advertising to children40,41 Options costed out to reflect losses to industries and gains for public health Ofcom rejected the more stringent option to prohibit all television advertising of foods high in fats, sugars and salt before 9:00 PM
Draft regulations under discussion
Brazil	Proposed law that would restrict all forms of food marketing to children (process initiated March 2005; proposed text released for consultation November 2006)43	Would prohibit child-targeted television and radioadvertisements between 6:00 am and 9:00 pm for foods high in sugar, saturated fat, trans fats and sodium, and drinks low in nutritional value, as well as marketing in the electronic media, films, games, and the Internet, and in educational materials Remaining advertisements would require inclusion of warnings such as “this food is high in saturated fat. Eating excessive saturated fat increases the risk of diabetes and heart disease” in advertisements in all media	Proposal developed by a working group that includedconsumers and representatives of government, medicine, and industry Though drafted by the sanitation bureau of the health ministry, the regulation would reportedly have statutory power because Brazilian law provides the bureau with the authority to regulate food, although this is subject to debate Consultation closed April 1, 2007, and comments currently being considered
Thailand	Proposal to restrict food advertising to children by health groupsc—e.g. Health Consumer Protection Project (proposal being tested as of September 2007)	Would limit duration of advertising to 10 minutes per hour, with an additional 2 minutes for promotion of nutrition education, prohibit advertisements from being repeated more than 4 times per hour, ban the use of celebrities and cartoon characters to promote products, and mandate the use of a health warning on advertisements for specific foods	Health groups met with advertising representatives andgovernment officials to discuss prohibiting food advertisements on television in April 2004 and January 200544 In August 2007, health groups met with the government agency, Thai National Broadcasting on Radio and Television, to discuss the proposal
Proposed
United States	Three federal bills introduced that refer to marketing to children	HeLP America Act would restore the authority of the Federal Trade Commission to regulate food marketing to children (introduced May 2005)45 The Prevention of Childhood Obesity Act would request the Institute of Medicine to recommend guidelines for marketing practices and authorize the Federal Trade Commission to promulgate regulations to implement these guidelines (introduced in 2005)47 The Children and Media Research Advancement Act would authorize pilot projects on the role of media exposure on “the development of childhood obesity, particularly as a function of media advertising” (introduced May 2004)48	None of the proposals have made progress thus far and face widespread opposition In total in 2006, Congress introduced more than 75 bills aimed at curbing obesity, but only 2 made it past the committee stage46

^aExamples of self-regulatory activity on food marketing and statutory regulation not specific to food are available as a supplement to the online version of this article at http://www.ajph.org. More information about regulatory activity can be found in reference 106.

^bThe original review identifies regulatory activity from April 2004–April 2006, but regulatory activity up until December 2006 and ongoing discussions that developed in 2007 are included as well.

^cV. Kulsomboon, written communication, associate professor, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, March 20, 2006, and August 15, 2007.