It’s more than just a few television ads – marketing food and drinks to children these days includes promotional displays at grocery stores and packaging that directs them to websites where they can play games, win prizes or send e-cards.

A new report from the Federal Trade Commission finds the nation’s largest food and beverage companies spent about $1.6 billion in 2006 marketing their products to children. The report stems from the concern about childhood obesity.

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Do your children watch television on Saturday mornings? If they do, they may be getting a big helping of bad nutrition whenever there’s a commercial break. A new report finds nine out of ten food advertisements during Saturday morning kids’ TV programs are for grub with poor nutritional quality. Nine out of ten!!!

During a sample of 27.5 hours of shows aimed at preschool and elementary school-aged children, 91 percent of food ads were for products high in fat, sodium or added sugars or they were low in nutrients. And nearly half of the four hours of ads were for food – that’s 281 commercials basically filled with junk.

The categories most commonly advertised during Saturday morning kids’ TV programs were ready-to-eat breakfast cereals and cereal bars, restaurants, and snack foods. Most of the advertised foods met the guidelines for vitamins and minerals, often because they were fortified. None of the 27 beverage ads met the recommended nutrition standards.

Wow – no wonder it’s so hard to get your kids to eat right.

The study is from the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the University of Minnesota and is in the April issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

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