Children continue to be the prime target of food commercials in the US, which was revealed to be a $1.3 billion business in 2006. This report, brought out by the Federal Trade Commission comes at a time when nutrition experts are repeatedly warning about the dangers of consuming unhealthy foods, especially in case of children and young adults.

The report studied data from such companies as Coca Cola, General Mills, Kraft Foods, Procter & Gamble as well as fast food chains like MacDonald’s and Burger King. The results showed that most of the advertisements sought to promote fast food, soda and cereals. For instance the biggest spender was the carbonated beverage industry shelling out nearly $492 million in advertising while the Milk Processor Education Program spent a modest $67 million on promotions.

In a first of its kind, the Federal Trade Commission compiled a report by studying confidential data from 44 food and beverage companies. The study especially focused on the amount of money that the companies spent on advertising directed to the age group of 2-17 years. However the report does not indicate how much individual companies spent on promoting each of their products nor does it differentiate junk food from nutrition-rich options.

-Kalyani Mookherji