Wellness

Marketing to Children: Principles of Responsible Nutrition Communication

Introduction

Children today grow up in an environment saturated with media, digital content, and persuasive messaging. Their developing cognitive abilities make them especially vulnerable to marketing that uses emotional cues, simplified claims, or visually appealing elements. Because of this, nutrition communication must uphold strict responsibility to protect children while empowering adults who guide their dietary choices.

Children process information differently and may not fully distinguish between education and promotion, making them more susceptible to marketing influence. Their exposure to media continues to increase, particularly through digital platforms, creating more opportunities for persuasive content to impact food preferences and behaviors

Responsible nutrition communication recognizes this vulnerability and ensures that messages remain ethical, science-based, and designed for adult understanding—not to persuade children.

Why Children Require Special Protection

Evidence shows that exposure to food and beverage messaging affects what and when children eat, shaping their preferences, knowledge, purchase requests, and long-term dietary patterns (Boyland et al., 2022; Smith et al., 2019; World Health Organization [WHO], 2023; Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2006). Global health bodies consistently emphasize the role of communication in creating healthier nutrition environments

Because early eating habits influence lifelong health, communication must be responsible. This includes aligning with widely accepted ethical frameworks, limiting child-directed communication and ensuring that any nutrition information shared publicly contributes positively to families’ understanding of nutritious and balanced eating.

PRINCIPLES OF RESPONSIBLE NUTRITION COMMUNICATION

Principle 1: Communication Must Be Directed to Adults

Children process information differently from adults and often lack the cognitive ability to understand the persuasive intent of marketing, making them particularly vulnerable to child‑directed food communication (American Academy of Pediatrics [AAP], 2006; Hastings et al., 2003).

Global public health authorities therefore recommend that nutrition communication be clearly directed to parents, caregivers, educators, and health professionals, rather than positioning children as independent decision‑makers (WHO, 2023; IOM, 2006)

Children should not be positioned as decision‑makers, nor should messaging use child‑appealing characters, incentives, or themes for food and beverages that do not meet applicable nutrition criteria. Responsible communication avoids child‑targeted language or imagery and ensures the tone remains educational and factual.

This approach supports caregivers in making informed choices and shields children from persuasive content that can influence their dietary preferences.

Principle 2: Education Over Promotion

Responsible communication prioritizes education—not persuasion, focusing on improving nutrition literacy and supporting informed decision‑making by adults (WHO, 2023). This means emphasizing:

How foods fit within balanced, varied diets
Accurate information on nutrition and health (e.g. labels, nutrients)
Practical guidance that supports healthy habits (e.g. portions, physical activity)

Evidence shows that promotional food messaging increases children’s preferences for marketed products, requests for purchase, and short‑term consumption, underscoring the need to avoid emotive or product‑centric communication in contexts involving children (Boyland et al., 2022; Smith et al., 2019).

Educational communication empowers families and reinforces healthier food environments without attempting to influence children’s choices.

Principle 3: Accuracy, Balance, Context, and Ethical Integrity

Responsible nutrition communication must be scientifically accurate, balanced, transparent, and presented in proper context, particularly where children may be indirectly exposed. Nutrition information should reflect current scientific evidence and be framed within overall dietary patterns, rather than emphasizing individual nutrients, ingredients, or foods in isolation (FAO & WHO, 2010; Codex Alimentarius Commission, 2013).

Oversimplified, exaggerated, or decontextualized nutrition claims risk misleading caregivers and indirectly shaping children’s perceptions of foods, underscoring the need for evidence‑based, clearly explained communication. Transparency about purpose, intent, and limitations is essential to avoid confusion between education and promotion and to maintain trust with families, educators, and health professionals (WHO, 2023; WHO & UNICEF, 2023).

Principle 4: Supporting Healthy Food Environments

Evidence shows that children’s exposure to persuasive food messaging can shape their eating behaviors early in life, emphasizing the importance of clear boundaries and protective practices (Boyland et al., 2022; Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2006; World Health Organization [WHO], 2023).

The Industry Response

In response, industry‑led safeguards and self‑regulatory mechanisms play a complementary role alongside public health policy in protecting children from inappropriate marketing influence.

In the Philippines, this includes the Ad Standards Council (ASC), whose Code of Ethics and Standards for the Protection of Children sets clear limits on child-directed advertising and requires that marketing communications avoid misleading claims, the exploitation of children’s credulity, or undue pressure on caregivers. Through mandatory pre-screening and substantiation requirements for advertising claims—particularly for food and health‑related products—the ASC promotes responsible advertising practices across media (Ad Standards Council [ASC], 2025).

At the company level, many food and beverage manufacturers, including Nestlé, have formalized these principles through internal responsible marketing and communication policies aligned with international guidance and national standards. In the Philippines, these commitments are further operationalized through participation in the Responsible Advertising to Children (RAC) Pledge, a voluntary framework administered by the Ad Standards Council (ASC). Such company‑level and country‑specific commitments help translate policy intent into practice and reinforce shared responsibility for protecting children and supporting healthier food environments.

The Role of Nutrition Professionals

Nutrition professionals play a central role in shaping responsible communication. They help interpret nutrition information, guide families toward evidence‑based choices, and advocate for ethical communication practices.

By modeling and promoting responsible messaging—especially in platforms that reach broad audiences—nutrition professionals help ensure that children are protected while adults are empowered with clear, science‑based guidance.

Moving Forward

Responsible nutrition communication is not about restricting information but about delivering it responsibly. When children are involved—even indirectly—communication must uphold high ethical standards, focus on education, and support adults in making informed decisions.

By prioritizing accuracy, balance, transparency, and a strict adult-oriented approach, nutrition communication contributes to healthier food environments and helps families build stronger, evidence- based habits that support long- term wellbeing

References

Ad Standards Council. (2025). Code of ethics and standards: Advertising claims. https://asc.com.ph/our-standards/code-of-ethics/advertising-claims/

Ad Standards Council. (2025). Standards for the protection of children. https://asc.com.ph/our-standards/code-of-ethics/general-sections/standards-for-the-protection-of-children/

American Academy of Pediatrics. (2006). Children, adolescents, and advertising. Pediatrics, 118(6), 2563–2569. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2006-2698

Boyland, E., McGale, L., Maden, M., Hounsome, J., Boland, A., Angus, K., & Jones, A. (2022). Association of food and nonalcoholic beverage marketing with children and adolescents’ eating behaviors and health: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Pediatrics, 176(7), e221037. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2022.1037

Boyland, E., Muc, M., Coates, A., Ells, L., Halford, J. C. G., Hill, Z., … Jones, A. (2025). Food marketing, eating and health outcomes in children and adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Nutrition, 133(6), 781–805. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114524000102

Codex Alimentarius Commission. (2013). Guidelines on nutrition labelling (CAC/GL 2‑1985, Rev. 1‑2013). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations & World Health Organization. fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/sh-proxy/en/ lnk=1&url=https%253A%252F%252Fworkspace.fao.org%252Fsites%252Fcodex%252FStandards%252FCXG%2B2-1985%252FCXG_002e.pdf

Hastings, G., Stead, M., McDermott, L., Forsyth, A., MacKintosh, A. M., Rayner, M., … Angus, K. (2003). Review of research on the effects of food promotion to children. Food Standards Agency. FINAL REPORT-19.9.03.doc

Institute of Medicine. (2006). Food marketing to children and youth: Threat or opportunity? National Academies Press. https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/11514

International Chamber of Commerce. (2019). Framework for responsible food and beverage marketing communications. ICC.

Smith, R., Kelly, B., Yeatman, H., & Boyland, E. (2019). Food marketing influences children’s attitudes, preferences and consumption: A systematic critical review. Nutrients, 11(4), 875. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11040875

Swinburn, B. A., Sacks, G., Hall, K. D., McPherson, K., Finegood, D. T., Moodie, M. L., & Gortmaker, S. L. (2011). The global obesity pandemic: Shaped by global drivers and local environments. The Lancet, 378(9793), 804–814. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60813-1

World Health Organization. (2016). Report of the Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity. World Health Organization.

World Health Organization. (2023). Policies to protect children from the harmful impact of food marketing. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240075412

World Health Organization & United Nations Children’s Fund. (2023). Taking action to protect children from the harmful impact of food marketing: A child rights‑based approach. WHO & UNICEF.