Tips to increase awareness of food marketing

Helping your kids develop healthy eating habits can be hard when they are surrounded by ads for highly processed foods and drinks. Use these tips to help increase the whole family’s awareness of marketing:

1 Have a conversation.

Talk to your kids about what advertising is and how it can influence the types of foods they eat.

2 Spot the ads.

Teach them how to recognize different kinds of marketing such as celebrity endorsements, adver-games and sponsored web content.

3 Go ad-free.

Choose apps or download software that limits advertising on your computer and mobile devices. Record your family’s favourite TV shows and skip the ads.

4 Read the label together.

Many foods and drinks marketed to kids are high in sodium, sugars or saturated fat. Practice reading the nutrition facts table and the ingredient list with your kids to help them learn how to make a healthier choice.

5 Ask questions.

Get to know the online games and apps your child is using. For younger kids, limit access to the ones that promote highly processed foods. For older teens, talk about the effects these messages can have on their food choices. Tips to increase awareness of food marketing.